Broody isa adopting chicks

[SilkySilkie]

wow im dazed your so lucky to get a broody isa brown mne are just the standard egg layers

 

[DaisyG2317]

I might just completely move them to my old prefab coop, its perfect size for her and 3 babies. My only concern with that is reintroducing them all back into main coop. Sigh. Not even sure how to broach that.

I'm hoping her full mothering instincts just haven't kicked in yet. I read an old forum on here with a kind of similar hen and it took her about a day to kick in.

Husband says other hens now have bloodlust

 

[Iluveggers]

Will it fit in your run & can you section it off? Or is it moveable to next to your run so they can be seen through the fence?

 

[DaisyG2317]

Will it fit in your run & can you section it off? Or is it moveable to next to your run so they can be seen through the fence?

No. It's a tsc prefab coop thats about... oh 50 feet or so away

 

[MROO]

Great advice, thank you! How should i prepare a space for her on the floor? Maybe one of those rugged ranch nest boxes you can buy? Coop is 6x6 with 4 hens so space isn't an issue.

I'm hoping the chicks aren't super old and that's why they are bogo. If they are like, 2 weeks old, should I not bother? I hope it works out because they have barnevelders and olive eggers and I really want them!

Just have a heat source and separate pen for them, just in case. If you leave an egg or two in with the chicks, Mama may be more inclined to stay on her nest in the morning, waiting for the last "babies" to hatch. That may give you a chance to watch her a bit - but still be out there just as early to make sure she's good with them. You want to give them ... and her ... the best chance they've got!

 

[Iluveggers]

I mean, can you pick it up and put it right next to the run? When my neighbor had one of those prefabs, 3 of us were able to pick it up and move it across her yard when she realized she didn’t want it where it was.

 

[MROO]

I had success with 3-4 week olds, but my broody was a really great one. The chicks are now 8-10 weeks old and she has not abandoned them yet.

It's funny how that works, sometimes. I've had broodies take on chicks, I've had non-broodies steal and raise chicks ... and I've had a broody mama go absolutely ballistic when those fuzzy yellow things started breaking her eggs. You just never know ... the little stinkers!

 

[DaisyG2317]

I mean, can you pick it up and put it right next to the run? When my neighbor had one of those prefabs, 3 of us were able to pick it up and move it across her yard when she realized she didn’t want it where it was.

Negative.

 

[Iluveggers]

I would definitely still separate, for safety reasons. Even if integrating is tricky. You can get help on that when the time comes.

 

[DaisyG2317]

Our solution, at least for tonight, anyway, is to let the mama stay in the coop and shut the other 3 out in the run for the rest of the evening until tomorrow morning. They have a roost and predator proof run. I know chicken world can be brutal but man, I can't unsee what they did to that baby.