If you want to stick the chicks under a broody mamma hen, do it at night when she's sleeping. Not just any hen will go broody. Some breeds go broody multiple times a year and others might go broody once in a lifetime if at all. What breed(s) are your pullets?I've got a question for the OTs:
I was just at the feed store, talking to the chicken guy that I bought the chicks from, and telling him how I plan to add a few more to the flock next spring. I was asking him the best way to add a few new chicks to older hens, and he said that when I get the brand new chicks, if one of the hens is broody, I can put them under her and she will tend to them and protect them. He also said that you can induce a hen to go broody by leaving fake eggs under her in preparation for fostering. Anybody use this method who can advise me?
(I have 5 pullets right now, about to start laying.)
Thanks for any insight you can provide.