Chic Adoption

[rmathrole]

Hi, this is my 1st time using your forum. My husband and I have 2 full grown laying hens. They are chicken buddy and chicken hawk. They have a medium size chicken tractor, about 4' x 12'. We free range them during the day and close them in at night to keep them safe from preditors. They have been laying for about a month since the wether has gotten warmer. One of the hens is laying on a couple of eggs and has not left the pen for about 2 days. We were planning on getting 3-5 more chics from the local country store. I guess I have a couple of questions. Is the hen doing that, because it is spring and she is expecting to hatch the eggs? Even though there is no rooster? And if we bring in the new chics do you think she will adopt them and take care of them?? Or do we need to raise them for the 1st 60 days seperately? Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

 

[debilorrah]

With no rooster, she could be sitting there for quite a while. It may just work, getting chicks and sticking them under her. I would keep my eye on her though for a good long while after putting them there. The problem may come from the OTHER hen that is not sitting. By the way, the sitting hen is called a broody hen. I would be interested to know the outcome.

 

[CoopCrazy]

I agree with the poster above.. Just be really careful hens can be viscious sometimess...... oh and btw

 

[Southernbelle]

Do you really think she's broody? Is she sitting in the nest around the clock even at night? Does she make grumpy growling noises when you reach under her? Is she having huge stinky broody poos?

If you can answer yes to all of those than you have a broody hen that will likely accept new chicks. For best results she should have been broody on fake eggs for 2-3 weeks before giving chicks, but I've heard of adoptions working when the hen has only been sitting a few days. Introduce chicks at night and keep a close eye on her.

 

[rmathrole]

Thanks for everyone's input. Wow, I am very impressed with this website. Very user friendly. Unfortunately our local store and the neighboring towns are all out of baby chics. Apparently they are going like wild fire around here. Our little local store will be getting more the 1st of June. So now the question is what do we do with our brooding hen. She definately shows all the signs of that. We like having the eggs, but I am more concerned about her health. As far as eating and drinking. Should we put food and water next to her?? Are there ways to encourage her to stop brooding? Again any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mediazeal]

You could order her some fertile eggs to hatch if you want more chicks. Then she could actually hatch them out herself and she would accept them, though the other hen will have to be separate from them for a bit usually.