Has anyone taken chicks from outside to put with single chick inside?

[tess36]

I took two, one week old chicks from a mama to put with a single chick (from same clutch) that's in a brooder to give it friends. Has anyone done this?

Backstory novel for context:
I had a Silver Hamburg go sneaky broody on me and she appeared last Saturday with six chicks according to my son who called me while I was at work. On Sunday, I noted seven chicks (I think one hatched overnight). Finding the remaining eggs cold and given that she had been out and about for two days, I went to chuck the remaining eggs in the nest. I found two shrink wrapped but alive, one very weak and one vigorously cheeping and attempting to break free. I took them in and fired up the incubator. Then, over several hours, freed up both to where they could push out on their own when they were ready and put them back in the incubator. The vigorous one pretty much pushed out almost immediately. The other baby died the next morning, never really moving much. The next morning, the Hamburg had left one baby behind in the yard, cheeping loudly. She couldn't have cared less (in retrospect I wonder if she knew something was off with the chick). I took that chick and put it with the surviving chick I had assisted. This was Monday am. I did try to slip the baby under mama, that was unsuccessful. I've noticed over the past day increasing lethargy and labored breathing of the chick I had found in the yard. Anticipating it's demise, I have for lack of a better term, stolen two of the chicks from the mama outside. My theory behind taking two is hopefully it would be less stressful if they had a sibling with them. Mama still has four and seems fine after the drama of stealing her babies. I'm trying to avoid a situation where I'm trying to integrate a single chick to my flock. Also, we leave for vacation in three weeks and I don't want to leave a single chick that has imprinted on us for a week (it hadn't imprinted on us yet, but if it alone for the next three weeks, I would suspect it would). It won't be old enough to integrate yet when we leave.

 

[NatJ]

I haven't experiences a situation quite like that, but what you did sounds reasonable to me.

Giving the late hatcher to the hen to raise would have seemed reasonable too-- but only if the hen had agreed! So I think you made good choices for the situation you have, and all the healthy chicks now have a good chance to stay healthy and grow up happy.

 

[tess36]

I haven't experiences a situation quite like that, but what you did sounds reasonable to me.

Giving the late hatcher to the hen to raise would have seemed reasonable too-- but only if the hen had agreed! So I think you made good choices for the situation you have, and all the healthy chicks now have a good chance to stay healthy and grow up happy.

Thank you for the reassurance. I did try to give the baby back, but she wasn't having it. I think it was just too far behind the others. I was second guessing my decision because they were very loud for a few hours, and I was feeling so guilty taking babies from the mama they'd imprinted on. Then we noticed that the healthy chick that I had assisted was also cheeping loudly, but no aggressive behavior noted between any chicks. We ended up taking the sick chick and culling it. It wasn't going to be long and my husband and I both felt it was suffering. When we came back in the house after burying it, I noted all chicks were quiet and lying under the brooder plate. I wonder if they were distressed by the dying chick?

With regards to the shrink wrapped orphan that prompted all this madness, I'm really happy I did assist (I just couldn't throw away an egg that was making that much noise, lol), it looks like a Lavender Orpington, except it has feathers on its legs. Since I know that at the time that egg would have been laid my light Brahma was in new mama mode herself, that means it's probably one of my white Cochins covered by my LO roo. It looks like it will be a beautiful bird. I hope it's a pullet. 2023 has been the summer of broodies gone wild over here and it's been HEAVY on the Cockerel side.

Thank you again for the reassurance. I've hatched a few different clutches over the past four years and have had orders of chickens and ducks dating further back, but never had this situation. I tried searching, but couldn't find my scenario, so I was feeling very ambivalent about having taken the babies.