Can you put 4 week old chicks under a newly broody hen?

[HippieAtHeart]

I’m pretty sure my hen is broody and I have chicks, but they are about 4 weeks old. Does it only work to stick chicks under a broody hen when they are under a week?

Interestingly I think she became broody after we brought the chicks outside earlier this week.

Any suggestions are appreciated

 

[The Happster]

I really doubt it will work. I had week old chicks that I tried to put under a broody who had sat for three weeks. Didn't work. 4 weeks, almost definitely not. My chicks are imprinted on me, and they won't accept the hen.

 

[Kloie Grace]

Hmm. This is a tricky situation. I want so badly to say yes, but,
Every hen is different. When did she go broody? Maybe try to introduce her to the chicks?
It may work though!

 

[Matilda Belle]

No

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Wont work. The chicks are too old to ever see her as a mother. The chicks need to accept the hen as well as the hen accept the chicks

 

[The Happster]

Wont work. The chicks are too old to ever see her as a mother. The chicks need to accept the hen as well as the hen accept the chicks

I was literally just about to write that. Lol.
They can't bond if the chicks don't accept.

 

[SueT]

4 week old chicks barely need a mama any more. They should be weaned from heat by then. That's the age when I put my brooder chicks out to the coop.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The oldest my chicks were when I fostered were about 3-4 days, if that. I put 2 under her the day I got them and the following 2 the next day, each one a few hours apart since they wouldn't all hatch at the same time in real life. And even then it was possible she wouldn't ever accept them

 

[HippieAtHeart]

Thank you everyone for your comments! It would make sense if wouldn’t work and I was going to wean the chicks from heat and introduce them soon anyway. Now I need to figure out what to do with my hen. I do have a rooster so the egg may be fertilized How many eggs will they lay while broody before they stop laying and just keep trying to hatch them? I would really only want her to hatch 2 chicks at the most. I’m so clueless with all this!

 

[The Happster]

At the point they are actually setting, they aren't laying.

But your other hens might lay in there.
How long has she been sitting on the one egg?