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.

 

[corn-fed]

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.

Thank you for your reply!! Another question that is only somewhat related -- I'd love to really give the chicks attention and handling to make them both friendlier and easier to handle for necessary care. Would sticking the chicks under a flighty hen predispose them to being flighty as well? She will hang out with me and run to me when she sees me, but seems pretty adverse to/frightened of direct handling.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, not sure how much this will help you, it's just one person's experience and POV. We recently gave 21 day-old chicks to two broodies who had been sitting on golf balls for right at 3 weeks. These two hens had previously co-parented two chicks they'd hatched and proven themselves capable mothers. One hen is a right vicious, VERY protective broody and mother. The other is sweet and gentle but equally solicitous of the chicks. DefComOne Mama hen won't let me near the bibis at this point. But! Every afternoon I go out and toss a lttle scratch and some dried mealworms out and call my chickens. All my girls and the rooster come running, including both mamas. And it didn't take long for the bibis to discover that my voice calling means GOODIES. In another week those bibis will be weaned, and shortly after that they'll be roosting with the big girls. And THEN I can start actually handling them, and neither mama will turn a feather at me. They'll never be "crawling all over me" tame, none of my chickens are. But they'll know I'm not the Boogeyman, and that's good enough for me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

1.) Is it better to use eggs or is it okay to do very young chicks?

Pros and Cons to both. If you let her hatch you don't know how many will actually hatch or what sex they will be. Most hens tightly bond with the chicks they hatch but on rare occasions the hen may harm or kill her chicks. If you give her chicks you may be able to get sexed chicks. You'll know how many you have. They will need to be very young, preferably no more than three days old. Most hen swill accept young chicks but your odds of them bonding are a little higher if she hatches them.

Most people have very good success either way.

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?

Another case where it would be good to know what country you are in so I'd better know what to suggest. If you are in the USA I'd call your county extension office and chat with them. See if they know anybody local that has hatching eggs. Maybe chat with the people at your feed store to see if they know anyone or if they have a bulletin board where you could post an ad. Find your State or Country thread in the "Where am I! Where are you!" section of this forum and chat with your neighbors. Go to the "Buy-Sell-Trade" section of this forum and place an ad, putting your location in the title to attract the attention of the people you want to see it. Place an ad in your equivalent of Craigslist or find an equivalent Facebook group wherever you are.

I'd be comfortable starting eggs so they should hatch by the time the hen was broody for 5 weeks. You do not get guarantees with living animals but I'd expect your odds of her finishing the hatch would be really good.

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?

You can get a lot of different opinions on this. Some people strongly feel that a hen can count like that and it is imperative that you time it perfectly. You can probably tell I'm not one of them. I've seen a hen broody for two days successfully fight another hen to take her chicks away from her. To me it is more important that the chicks be very young. I see nothing wrong with waiting a week or two though if you want to. You do not get guarantees with living animals no matter what you do.

Good luck!