Broody hens.... questions

[wjallen05]

My fourth hen has gone broody.

My EE hen hatched out 5 Silkie eggs herself and I gave her 5 from the same batch that I hatched in the bator. She accepted all of them and now is the proud mother of 10 little fuzz balls.

So now my Buff Orpington is broody.

I don't want any more chicks but I feel bad not letting her hatch some. I have some Pheasant eggs in the bator right now that are hatching as we speak. One is already out. Can I give these to her? She has been broody for only 5 days so will it be confusing for her? My EE sat on eggs for the full 21 days plus another week before I could get the Silkie (and Pheasant) eggs from my friend.

Also, if you guys do think I can give her these eggs, can I put her in the same pin as my EE and her babies?

TIA!!!

 

[colby318]

I've never raised pheasants so I hope someone else responds to this, too.
I've never had a problem with multiple broodies with different families. The chicks even rotated between the hens even though they were different ages. When the chicks hit around 3 weeks old though, the hens would start chasing them away. The weaning age I suppose... I have an integrated flock of wyandotte, welsummers and EEs. The wyandotte hens seem to not mind sharing chicks. "Heather has two mommies" scenario with the little ones running back and forth between and the hens sleeping together at night. The welsummer kept herself separated but never maintained a running head count.

 

[wjallen05]

OK. Thanks for the info. I've never raised Pheasants either, but I know some people let hens hatch out ducks/etc, so I figured this would be the same? Eliza, my EE, and Christmas, my Buff Orp, grew up together (and are now 1 1/2) so they are good buddies. Do you think Christmas will take in these chicks that are hatching now? I don't want to get another batch of eggs. I already have a pin of ducks, a brooder full of chicks/quineas/a turkey, a broody hen with 10 chicks, and then of course the laying hens. Way too much for me!!!