Broody hen won't take chicks - please help!!

[typeonederful]

We have a 10 month old White Plymouth Rock that is broody. She has been in the nesting box for the past 5 days or so and won't leave unless we take away her eggs, in which case she will run to get water and then straight back into the nesting box. We decided to give her chicks to hatch and planned to give them to her tonight. We bought 8 day old chicks, one Rhode Island Red and one Light Brahma. We knew they would be too big but hoped that she would accept them anyway. Tonight we boarded off a section of the nesting box for her and gave her the chicks around 10pm. She was wide awake when we did it but we didn't have a heat lamp for the chicks so didn't see another option. We put the chicks in and she immediately started lashing out at them. We pulled them out before she could do any damage but she was standing up and poking her head at them like she wanted to bite them. What should I do with the chicks? I think it might have worked if we had waited until later but now that she's had this interaction I think we've ruined those chances. We don't have any chick supplies and don't want to raise chicks again. Please help!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

At this point you should plan on brooding and raising the chicks yourself. Get the necessary supplies just to keep them alive and if you have no desire to keep the chicks, try to rehome them as soon as you can.

Even if she had hatched them from eggs, you really should have a brooder and brooding supplies on hand in case of problems. Not all broodies make good mothers.

 

[Rose Quartz]

Do you have a desk lamp and an incandescent light by any chance?

Or an old heat lamp?

Human body heat is enough to keep them alive through the night if you need to.

An electric heating pad that you can set to always on would work too.

I don't think the broody will take to them with how short a time she's been sitting.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You need to find some way to keep these little guys warm through the night. In the morning you'll have to provide them with food and water and, like it or not, apparently you're raising a couple of chicks. At least until you can make other arrangements for them. Good luck.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Would it be safe to try again with the same hen and different chicks a few weeks from now? Or has this experience shown that she isn’t a good mother/doesn’t have interest in raising chicks?

Hard to say as she hasn't proven herself as a mother yet.

IF you plan on trying again, you need to wait until she's closer to hatching time (21 days), and use younger chicks. Or put fertile eggs under her and let her hatch those. You should still have a brooder set up ready to go in case she does not accept the babies in any case.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

My silkie hen accepted day old adoptees for the first few hours when I added them to her hatching chicks, in the dark in the middle of the night. They were fine by breakfast, half an hour later she killed one and drove the others away and kept her own. And shes an amazing mother. My cochin will accept any chick and co mothers chicks that others have hatched. Until you get to know her, it's not a sure thing.

 

[typeonederful]

We tried again last night - I think it worked! We shoved the chicks under her and grabbed the eggs. She pecked for a while and then went to sleep. We woke up this morning and one of the chicks was out from under her. She was purring/growling at it a little, but seemed to be trying to take care of it. We still haven't seen the other one, but hopefully it's doing just as well.

Update: went to check and the other one was out as well! They were eating/drinking, and she was watching them and clucking softly.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

She wasn't broody long enough and the chicks were too old. Usually you want her brooding at least 2 weeks and give her day olds, or chicks thar had just arrived from s hatchery amd dont know what mama is

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Do you have a heating pad? You might search heat cave on here if so. Not sure if you mean what to do with hen or chicks, but you can maybe re-sell them on Craigslist or something or give them away if you don't want to raise them. if you don't want to break her broodiness, get her some fertile eggs and give her 21 days to hatch them.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Would it be safe to try again with the same hen and different chicks a few weeks from now? Or has this experience shown that she isn’t a good mother/doesn’t have interest in raising chicks?

Can you get fertilized eggs? That would be your best bet if your not going to break her broodiness. You may run the risk of her not accepting the next batch and needing to brood them.

ETA: She may be a wonderful mother, or have no staying power, or be a horrible parent, but you can't really know for sure unless you've seen her with chicks she's hatched. Some hens refuses any chick that's not theirs but are the most attentive mothers to the ones they hatch, some mother any chick they see, some get bored early and push the chicks away too soon. Some don't get it right until they're older. A lot like people, really. They come in all sorts.