Confused on how to incorporate chicks into flock.

[R1V3R20NG]

I'm planning on incorporating some serama bantam chicks into my flock and i don't already have bantams. I was thinking about putting 1-3 day old chicks into my flock by slipping them under a broody hen's wings and removing her eggs at night. My mom thinks that the hen would probably kill the chicks. I don't use heat lamps either. snow is a rarity where i live anyway.

 

[RodNTN]

Serama chicks are extremely small, aren't they? Are you sure that your broody will accept them? How long has she been brooding? Is she a dependable broody? (If she is a first timer I wouldn't trust her).

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.

I slip chicks under my hens all the time, successfully... up to 6 days old!

Each hen will be an individual so I always check early the next morning to make sure all is going well.

Be prepared to raise them yourself if she hasn't raised chicks before or if for some reason she doesn't accept them. But I never had to so far.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I regularly use that approach, but mine are not bantam. I would not expect whether they are bantam of not would make any difference but I have no experience with bantams. I have had experience with first time broodies, they tend to do as well as hens that have been broody before. Either they have the instinct or they don't.

With living animals anything can happen. I once had a broody hen not accept some of the ones I gave her but these were during the day and she had already taken the chicks she hatched off the nest.

I can't give you any guarantees with living animals but that is exactly what I'd try. I'd also be down there pretty early the next morning to see how it was going.

 

[Chicken Boy 101]

If you have a rooster in ur flock then there's a good chance he would kill them.

 

[Chickassan]

Seramas are so tiny,they have a huuuge chance of being accidentally crushed, i really, really, think you should adjust your plan.

 

[R1V3R20NG]

I do have i rooster. but he always puts the hens first. he does his best not to hurt them. He will even wait for them to eat first before he eats, and if he finds something good for them he will pick it up, call the hens over, and give it to the first hen who gets there. His calling sound sounds like giggling. Roasted Marshmallow is our hen who likes to go broody every other month except when she is molting so she weighs like hardly anything so i don't think she would squash. plus she the most determined mother i have ever seen. she sat on the fake eggs for over a month. i even moved att night to a high perch inside the coop and still didn't break. she sat in a puddle which one of the fake eggs were put in while the coop was getting clean. it was nuts!!

 

[R1V3R20NG]

Serama chicks are extremely small, aren't they? Are you sure that your broody will accept them? How long has she been brooding? Is she a dependable broody? (If she is a first timer I wouldn't trust her).

She has never actually raised chicks.but then again, I've only had chickens for a little over a year. she has also never seen chicks at our house so she probably doesn't know how big they are supposed to be.

 

[sylviethecochin]

If you have a rooster in ur flock then there's a good chance he would kill them.

Unlikely--while this does happen occasionally, roosters don't kill chicks they think are theirs. The occasional rooster that doesn't understand this should immediately be culled. I've had roosters peck at the chicks, but only if the chick was from outside "his" flock. I have never had a rooster pursue or injure a chick. You should almost always be more worried about the other hens, especially if mama is low in the pecking order.

I'm planning on incorporating some serama bantam chicks into my flock and i don't already have bantams. I was thinking about putting 1-3 day old chicks into my flock by slipping them under a broody hen's wings and removing her eggs at night. My mom thinks that the hen would probably kill the chicks. I don't use heat lamps either. snow is a rarity where i live anyway.

Standards will hatch and keep my OEG bantam chicks. There's a pretty good chance integration will work, and your plan sounds like it should be successful. With serama bantams, though I would separate the mum and chicks out after she's bonded with them--for a few days, at least.

Separation allows you to keep an eye on the family and make sure everything's working out. There's also a lower mortality rate (chicks don't get lost in the grass and they don't get left behind when she steps over a four-inch obstacle, etc. Also, you don't have to worry about making sure they're up the ramp every night. Chicks do nut understand ramps at first.)

After the separation period is over, the broody hormones allow mama to reclaim her place in the flock very quickly.

Sounds like you've got a good broody. Good luck. What breed is she, by the way?

 

[R1V3R20NG]

Salmon Favorelle.... she doesn't have a beard. And I'm getting the chicks from a friend.