Do hens know when their eggs will hatch?

[TurkeyKeeper]

I have been incubating 6 ayam cemani eggs for the past 15 days. Recently (around 2 days ago) one of my silkie hens went broody. I was wondering whether or not I could have her adopt the chicks once they hatch. My only concern was that she might not adopt them. Would she know they're not hers? She would only have been around 8 days broody by the time the eggs hatch. any tips? Thanks

 

[Yardmom]

There is a better chance of a hen adopting chicks if they have sat longer, but if you want to give it a try at 8 days a silkie is a good candidate. I would suggest trying when the chicks are about 24-36 hours old. That way they definitely want to stay under the new mom. I have heard doing it at night also helps. I have not done this myself.