Hatching eggs vs grafting chicks to a broody hen?

[corn-fed]

Hello!

A hen of ours has gone broody during a rather serendipitous time for us to have more chickens. I've raised up some broilers from chick-hood, but otherwise got all my chickens as pullets in a group from an existing flock. I've been scratching my head trying to figure out what to do and how to avoid infighting if we were to add more chickens, but from what I've read, the most foolproof and headache-reducing way is to have one of the hens raise up some chicks.

As much as I've encouraged the ladies to hit the town and mingle with the neighbor's rooster, they aren't inclined to go too far out of the way to meet him (same, girls). Despite this, one of the hens is currently sitting on some unfertilized eggs, and I'm trying to figure out what to do next. A few questions:

1.) Is it better to use eggs or is it okay to do very young chicks?
2.) I've scoured my local chicken communities and cannot find any hatching eggs within driving distance. If I order eggs, they will most likely be available by next week at the earliest. The hen has been broody for a few days, so would that cause issues for her internal clock where she will get off the eggs before they can be hatched out?
3.) If using chicks, can I add them at any point or do I need to wait 21 days or so to line up with the timeline of incubation?
4.) Any other tips or stories about similar scenarios would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks y'all!

 

[16 and me]

Hello!

A hen of ours has gone broody during a rather serendipitous time for us to have more chickens. I've raised up some broilers from chick-hood, but otherwise got all my chickens as pullets in a group from an existing flock. I've been scratching my head trying to figure out what to do and how to avoid infighting if we were to add more chickens, but from what I've read, the most foolproof and headache-reducing way is to have one of the hens raise up some chicks.

As much as I've encouraged the ladies to hit the town and mingle with the neighbor's rooster, they aren't inclined to go too far out of the way to meet him (same, girls). Despite this, one of the hens is currently sitting on some unfertilized eggs, and I'm trying to figure out what to do next. A few questions:

1.) Is it better to use eggs or is it okay to do very young chicks?
2.) I've scoured my local chicken communities and cannot find any hatching eggs within driving distance. If I order eggs, they will most likely be available by next week at the earliest. The hen has been broody for a few days, so would that cause issues for her internal clock where she will get off the eggs before they can be hatched out?
3.) If using chicks, can I add them at any point or do I need to wait 21 days or so to line up with the timeline of incubation?
4.) Any other tips or stories about similar scenarios would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks y'all!

Hello!

Getting hold of day old chicks should work just fine, but aim for the 21 day mark if you can. I have had good success with day old sort of emergency replacements when a hen was sitting on infertile eggs, but it has always been at the 21-24 day mark. 2 weeks might be ok, but might not depending on the hen.