Broody Hen raising day old chicks now what

[21hens-incharge]

I agree she isn't ready to be a mom yet.

Some birds will sit eggs and make horrible mothers. Some make great moms. Timing is critical when getting a hen to adopt.

Such as bummer.

You have to raise the remaining now if any are to survive.

 

[song of joy]

Unfortunately it seems that you may have jumped the gun by giving her chicks too soon. Their bodies go through phases whilst they brood and it's best to let them sit at least 2 weeks before you attempt to give them chicks so that they are becoming ready to stop incubating and start brooding. By taking her off the nest at this stage you may now have broken her of her broodiness. You might need to remove the other 2 chicks from her if they are struggling to keep up.
This is not the hen's fault and it doesn't mean that she is a bad mother but just that you gave her the chicks before she was ready for them.
It is a shame but better luck next time..... also better to graft chicks in the spring or summer than at this time of year because if you cannot supervise 24/7 and a chick gets left behind or falls out of the nest, they chill and die in a very short space of time whereas in spring/summer which is the more natural time to be broody, chicks have a much better chance of survival if something does go wrong because they don't chill so quickly.

Agree. Good advice from @rebrascora and @21hens-incharge .

It sounds like she is transitioning from broody to non-broody. She is not displaying the types of behaviors that a good mother hen would display (e.g., tidbitting to call chicks over for food, lifting up her wings to encourage the chicks to snuggle under her, making sure the chicks are always following her by making soft clucking sounds, etc.).

Try again in the spring or summer, after she's been broody for 2 to 3 weeks. Three weeks is safer than 2. In the meantime, plan on brooding the remaining chicks yourself.

 

[gogochook]

Hi - I am in Australia and its toward the end of summer but still warm anywhere between 27 - 30 every day. The two survivors are sticking by her yesterday and today, and she does have some downtime where they are resting under her - they are both eating and drinking - and she also managed to get them back into the coup last night before dark which is no mean feat as it is elevated about 3 feet off the ground but I have two ramps - I checked on them this morning and they were up and about and have been all day - they appear to be a bit more lively today. Thank you for your post - I half suspected it was too soon but the Chicken Breeder I purchased them from didn't say anything at the time and she knew my circumstances. she also lost quite a few chicks that day with power being out 22 hours and had a lot of smothering. I have been keeping close watch - she does appear to be very hungry.

 

[gogochook]

I have just taken some footage of them together I think she

has it covered but would really like your thoughts this is a small snippet of them together and she makes clucking noises around them

 

[rebrascora]

It is helpful if you put your location on your profile page so that we can see at a glance where in the world you are each time you post. Nearest city and country is enough. It can be very relevant to advice given, products available, breed standards etc, and as in this case seasonal differences. It gets a bit tedious asking people where in the world they are when they don't include that information and you are responding to hundreds of posts and since most members are in the USA, you sometimes end up making that assumption, so that is my bad.... apologies. Unfortunately, when I click the video, it will not play and says that it is unavailable, but from what you say, it sounds hopeful that they will manage together.... it is a huge achievement getting them up the ramp at that age and something that my broodies have struggled with at 2-3 weeks old, causing me immense frustration as the broody coop I was using was one of those little combo things that are not big enough to crawl into and they would always nestle in the furthest corner of the run under the coop where I couldn't reach them...

Did you manage to save the other chick?

 

[gogochook]

Sorry I had the video as private - haven't done it before - so a newbie at Utube - just went and checked on them and the two chicks are OK so another night of survival - they are now a week old - so hopefully I am guessing if we get through another few days we are OK ? She does make a lot of noise with them - she did go into the nest last night and was calling to them non stop to get them up making all sorts of trilling noises clucks - noises I have never heard her make before My next issue is sexing them - not sure what we have yet. Really am so appreciative of everyones help here !

 

[rebrascora]

She's not as attentive as I would have liked to see in the video. It might have been useful if you had thrown down some meal worms and seen how she responded but the behaviour you describe getting them to bed at night is encouraging and sounds very positive.

 

[SabritHadid]

Usually we make our broody hen go for a full 2 weeks, she is SO proud of her brood when she gets them on the 15th to 16 night. Now, we let another hen brood for 2 weeks and she was an awful mother, had to take the babies from her. I like the idea of even waiting 18 days!

 

[bruceha2000]

So sorry you lost your Barnevelders! I have 1, should have been 2 but the second was a cockerel. I gave him away when he started attacking their adoptive mom at about 5 months of age. Trill is a pretty bird though DD1 really should wait until chicks are mature before naming them. Peep was a 2012 Cubalaya, her adult voice was more like "squark". Trill doesn't trill, more of a nasal honk. But she is a pretty bird and once she finally started laying has done well. She's the only pullet I have that laid through Dec and Jan though I expected all of the 6 to do so.

Normal incubation is 21 days so it does make sense that a hen may not be quite ready for chicks a lot earlier. When my BA was broody in 2015 I ordered chicks, looking at my records they arrived when she had been broody 15 days.

I agree with @rebrascora, the hen is sticking with the chicks but at least in that short time not really interacting with them as I have seen my Mama hen do with her adoptees. Good idea to toss something for them to eat near her and see if she calls them over. No big deal if she doesn't, they are fine with their chick starter. Zorra raised the 2015s from 3 days of age. She went broody just after the 2017s arrived at the end of April but wasn't interested in them, likely that lack of "incubation time" thing. They raised themselves in the brooder area with their Mama Heating Pad cave and access to the run for 3 weeks. They even found their way out of the barn on the north end through the alpacas' area. The older hens won't go into that territory. Then she decided to mother them but they never treated her as their heat source. Still she was their protector and showed them all the favored daytime hangouts and what things were good to eat.

 

[Morrigan]

I had a broody reject chicks after sitting 25 days. I've also had a broody accept a chick after sitting only 5 days, so there is a huge variability among hens.

In a perfect world, I like to wait 16 to 20 days, then slip the chicks under momma at night along with a broken egg shell. In the case of the 5 day broody, I took a chance as I already had hatched chicks I was giving to another broody at the 20 day mark, and didn't want to set another batch of eggs if I could help it. She was a weird one, I gave her two chicks, a white one and black one. She kicked the white one out almost immediately, but absolutely doted on the lone black chick. Chickens have minds of their own.