chicks and broody hens

[bubblensqueak]

hi so i do have another question if i am going to introduce chicks to my broody hen how old do they have to be is a little over a week too old? and how long do they stay separated from the rest of the flock and just with the momma hen? and are they safe outside at this time of year? We have a second smaller coop i can use that we use when introducing new chickens. that is where I would put this broody and the babes.

 

[centrarchid]

The age of chicks will be a complicating factor. I would feed them up and introduce them to hen in the dark and make sure they are kept in physical contact for about 8 hours. Hen needs to be properly broody for this to work.

Isolate hen and chicks from balance of flock when doing this. Only after hen adopts would I introduce and I do not like having hens with chicks confined with other flock members in a coop.


Forcing birds into family groups is tough so I would delay such attempts until lots of experience is realized.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree that a little over a week is pretty old to try this. Some broody hens will adopt about any chick, even this age or older, but some won’t. The normal thing is that the chicks and hen talk to each other before the eggs hatch so imprinting has already started. The older the chicks the more the risk. I agree to put them in under the hen after dark. One of three things will happen the next morning: 1) She adopts them, they accept her authority, and things are great, 2) She ignores them. Doesn’t hurt them but doesn’t nurture them either, or 3) She kills them. No one can tell you which of these she will do, you need to be there at daylight to watch what is going on. Another possible scenario is that she wants to adopt them but they don’t accept her authority so she disciplines them by pecking to establish her authority. This is not the same as her trying to kill them but sometimes it is not easy to tell the difference.

I’ve never tried introducing chicks this old to a broody, they’ve always been straight out of the incubator. And when I’ve tried this, my broody hens have always been broody at least two weeks. Some people on here say they had no problems with hens that have been broody just a few days but the rejection rate seems to be higher with hens that have just gone broody from posts on this forum. I suspect that is because some hens go into full broody mode from the start, while others only go into it partially. The hormones that cause the hen to go broody are acting up but have not hit a full 100%. The hen cannot count the number of days she has been broody but the hormones have to have fully kicked in. If she has just gone broody this does not guarantee failure, it just adds a little more risk.

That second coop sounds like a good place to try this. Leave them isolated in there until they have bonded, the hen is finding them food and keeping them warm. This should only take a couple of days, long enough for you to be sure she is caring for them. Then you can let them roam with the flock. Some people like to do this with a new broody for a couple of days so the chicks become mobile and get used to eating and drinking without interference from the flock, but yours are already over a week old. They are already mobile and eating.

There is a real good chance the broody will take them back to this coop at night instead of taking them into the main coop, but I don’t know for sure she will do this.

Good luck!

 

[bubblensqueak]

thank you both so much for this information. i am not sure what to do but feel like she has been broody for at least 2 weeks. it is a very interesting process to watch. i happen to have a friend with baby chicks but at a week old i don't want to endanger them in any way. I will let you know what happens.

 

[centrarchid]

You need to be very sensitive to what signs then hen will give indicating she rejects the chicks. Also the chicks must accept the hen. All parties will need to be reprogrammed for this to work. I have done it with game hens but had to intervene when hen attacked chicks during initial stages of introduction and get everyone in the dark again. The hen can do serious damage real fast.

If you have not already done so I suggest you allow a hen to hatch and rear a brood naturally to get a handle on the interactions as they occur normally. The try introduction with hatchlings and only after succeeding with that move on to try your current type of challenge.

 

[maggiemo]

In my experience it wasn't so much the broody hen taking in older chicks, it was the chicks. In my case the chicks were 4 days old. They didn't know to stay with the broody. They had already been under a light and been getting their own food so they didn't know what the broody was trying to make them do. The broody was experienced and very frustrated. She eventually got them to figure out to listen to her and not do whatever they wanted, but it took a few days. It was May and warm. If it was cold outside I think some chicks would have died.

 

[centrarchid]

In my experience it wasn't so much the broody hen taking in older chicks, it was the chicks. In my case the chicks were 4 days old. They didn't know to stay with the broody. They had already been under a light and been getting their own food so they didn't know what the broody was trying to make them do. The broody was experienced and very frustrated. She eventually got them to figure out to listen to her and not do whatever they wanted, but it took a few days. It was May and warm. If it was cold outside I think some chicks would have died.

That is what I meant by everyone needs to be reprogrammed, not just the hen. Even the chicks can be changed but it takes time and intense interactions under decidedly unnatural conditions.

 

[Mrs. K]

If your chicks are a little cold, they find that warm spot in the dark, it can help.... but I agree with all of the above posters. It is a bit of a crap shoot, but it is ideal if it works.