Buff Orp- Broody.

[Mountain Peeps]

ok, thanks! Just noticed I fell into the classic "their" vs 'there" dilemma .

Now the problem I'm having is finding somewhere local to get 2x two day old baby chicks. Online it seems there is a minimum # you must order to have chicks delivered.


I presume you should have the same breed of chicks as the Mom? (Buff Orpington)? Or does it matter?

The breed doesn't matter at all. Momma hen will raise any bird. (Even ducks, guineas, etc!) I'm not sure where to look for baby chicks...hmmm, maybe check out JAX, farm king, tractor supply, etc if you live near any of those. I bought two day old chicks from JAX last month.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So you obviously prefer to put fertile eggs under her as opposed to placing already hatched baby chicks under her. Should I have a brooder close by for the chicks? Separate from the main coop where Mom is? Or just leave them in the coop with Mom (since we have only ONE hen now).

No, I don’t prefer fertile eggs. I don’t have a preference for you one way or the other. If you can find very young chicks to slip under her, that would be great. Mountains Peeps had discussed that. I was just giving information on the other option you had asked about.

If you can find chicks, get them as young as you can. Hens and chicks imprint on each other. The older the chicks, the less likely they are to imprint. Many feed stores are having chick days, you might find some there, though many have a minimum number they will sell you, usually 6. Or if you can find your state thread in the “Where am I? Where are you!” section on this forum, you can discuss with your fellow Texans about getting baby chicks. Someone near you may be able to help you.

Most broodies will accept and take care of young chicks if you slip them under her at night. On rare occasions a hen won’t do that though, even if you do everything right. So you need to be prepared to brood them yourself if she does not accept them.

If the hen accepts them, and she probably will if they are young, you do not need to do anything except stay out of the way. Let the broody take care of her babies. You do not need to provide a brooder. You do not need to provide heat. The only thing you need to provide is food and water on a level the chicks can get to. The broody hen will take care of everything else.

Should I have heat lamp on in coop for the chicks? Even with weather here in Dallas will be 70-80's during day/50-60's at night? And if heat lamp is on for the chicks, can I leave the fan on for the adult hen/mom in the same coop?! :/

With those temperatures, you do not need to provide heat. The hen’s body temperature is 100 degrees. She can provide all the heat the chicks need. With those temperatures you don’t need the fan for the hen either.

since you can't tell a chicks sex until weeks later, what if we end up with 1 male (roost) & 1 hen chick? Will roosters fertilize eggs often? We only have room for 3-5 chickens right now, total.

Once they mature roosters will fertilize the eggs. Those eggs can still be eaten. They will not hatch unless they are incubated, either by a broody hen or in an incubator. If you don’t want more chicks, don’t incubate the eggs.

 

[donrae]

If you're wanting to get more birds, sounds like more to keep her company than for production, I'd say your best route is to get day old sexed pullets for her. That way she raises them, there's no headache about getting adult birds to get along, and you don't have to worry about what to do with the roosters she hatches out.

Do you have any feed or pet shops around you that have baby chicks? If she's just now setting, you have time to order some. My Pet Chicken will ship as few as 3 chicks if you're near enough an airport. If you chose to order chicks and need to get more, she can raise them until the 6ish week mark and you can sell the ones you don't want to keep.

I find they adopt better if it's pretty close to that 21 day mark....but as Ridgerunner said, they can't count. A couple days before or after is okay. Conventional wisdom is to put the chicks in at night, but I've done it during the day. You don't need to put them under her, just in the nest, usually kind of behind her. They'll tuck themselves right in.

Once the chicks arrive, she'll usually stay on the nest for a day or two. If she were brooding a clutch of eggs, this is to allow any stragglers to hatch. Baby chicks don't need to eat for the first 2-3 days, so they're fine to just hang out with momma until she's ready to get off the nest. So, about 2 days after she gets chicks, she'll get off the nest and show them where to eat and drink, stretch her legs, and start raising her babies.