Broody hen with one chick - add more?

[wild chick]

My broody only hatched one of 8 on Monday. Seems healthy and fine, and I'm sure it's OK to let her raise just one. (One egg broke in the nest around day 7, so I'm assuming contamination caused the others to not develop. One other did develop but died after hatching. I've cleaned the nest box and replaced the straw) I called my local Tractor Supply - they are getting chicks in Wed or Thurs , so if they are day-olds when shipped they should have hatched on Monday also, making them the same age as my One-sy. Gretchen is a devoted mom and I'm thinking that she would take them. Any downside to this plan?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The downside is that she won't take kindly to interlopers and you'll be forced to brood them yourself.
There's nothing wrong with a hen raising a single chick.
The only time a single chick is a problem is with artificial brooding and they have no friends. A broody hen is a good friend.

 

[Sonya9]

Hopefully she will accept them especially if they are introduced at night (maybe get chicks that look similar to the one she hatched).

Course if she doesn't accept them get ready to set up a brooder.

 

[wild chick]

Yeah, I haven't raised any since my first chicks 4 years ago, they are so much better hen-raised! So I've thought of that, but I was wondering about introducing chicks from outside the flock. Should be safe? Knocking on wood, I have a very healthy free-range flock. I did put hatchery chicks under a broody 2 years ago and it worked - I ordered them to arrive the week her fake eggs were due. I'm assuming Tractor Supply just orders from one of the main hatcheries?

 

[LizzzyJo]

I think one will be just fine. Personally I don’t bring in TSC chicks because of the contamination factor. Did you get your hens from TSC or a hatchery or a breeder?

 

[Acre4Me]

I’ve heard of this idea working, but best if you introduce at night/in the dark. There is a definite risk of her not accepting them.

Once either on BYC or on YouTube I saw a video of 2 broods near each other, but broody 1 was removed from chicks (not a good momma?), and so those chicks had a heat lamp. Other chicks nearby had a broody momma. A couple of the lamp chicks successfully got adopted by the broody momma -during daylight hours, by mingling with her chicks that were same young age and getting under her wings for warmth, which she allowed. Not all lamp chicks were brave enough to do this and she did shoo off a couple of the other ones that started to try to get integrated.

if you want more chicks anyway, give it a try. Worst case is they get brooder raised. TSC chicks will come from a large hatchery.

 

[wild chick]

Did you get your hens from TSC or a hatchery or a breeder?

4 years ago I got my SL & GL Wyandottes from McMurray, 2 years ago I got 8 female chicks of 8 different breeds from Meyer - those chicks I put under a broody at night and the hen took them. Anyway, my elders are slowing down with eggs this year and I didn't let any go broody in 2019, so next summer I'll be looking at 3, 4, and 5 year olds. I'm needing some pullets to keep steady eggs! To boot, not one broody this year until finally Gretchen did in August, so I may not have any go broody next year. It seems to me TSC has more complaints than the bigger hatcheries, so that's what I was worried about. I'll get sexed chicks if they have them, but I understand that could as bad as 50/50 chances.

 

[wild chick]

And to add, I obviously have a very mixed flock so I'm not set on quality show birds, just healthy chicks that will lay for a few years.

 

[Sonya9]

Yeah, I haven't raised any since my first chicks 4 years ago, they are so much better hen-raised! So I've thought of that, but I was wondering about introducing chicks from outside the flock. Should be safe? Knocking on wood, I have a very healthy free-range flock. I did put hatchery chicks under a broody 2 years ago and it worked - I ordered them to arrive the week her fake eggs were due. I'm assuming Tractor Supply just orders from one of the main hatcheries?

I believe TSC uses Hoovers. They should be perfectly safe but if possible pay in cash and use an alias (stores keep chick registries for the state and if a hatchery had a disease outbreak it can mean they track down all buyers and wipe out entire flocks even if the birds don't test positive or ever get sick).

I add chicks with broodies most years and always buy from the local store. This year due to the chick shortage I bought from a local breeder and a hen hatched some of her own. Got 4 cockerels and 1 pullet out of that so will only be buying sexed feed store chicks for a long while.

 

[LizzzyJo]

4 years ago I got my SL & GL Wyandottes from McMurray, 2 years ago I got 8 female chicks of 8 different breeds from Meyer - those chicks I put under a broody at night and the hen took them. Anyway, my elders are slowing down with eggs this year and I didn't let any go broody in 2019, so next summer I'll be looking at 3, 4, and 5 year olds. I'm needing some pullets to keep steady eggs! To boot, not one broody this year until finally Gretchen did in August, so I may not have any go broody next year. It seems to me TSC has more complaints than the bigger hatcheries, so that's what I was worried about. I'll get sexed chicks if they have them, but I understand that could as bad as 50/50 chances.

I’m assuming TSC chicks are vaccinated for mereks? Meyer hatchery is actually my local chick place, so that’s where I go. I feel that picking them up locally from a hatchery lowers risks due to shipping. Also - hatcheries will be much more trustworthy in terms of sexing.

If you don’t mind the TSC illness chance (which I’m just paranoid about - I’m not saying it’s 100% fact) then I would say go grab some babies and tuck them under her at night. Watch for a few minutes and see if she pulls them under her.