Having second thoughts :(

[Amp]

I have a Broody Hen that is really persistent so we decided to let her have some babies. I was going to find some fertilized eggs and let her hatch so I called our local feed store earlier to see if they knew of anyone. They told me that just received a delivery of day old chicks and told me to buy a couple and put them under her tonight. That sounded great at first but I'm having second thoughts. Has anyone done this successfully while leaving them with the flock. I have 6 hens and now these 3 babies. I'm worried because I only have 2 nesting boxes and one is being occupied by the broody hen and I'm afraid just one box for the other 5 is going to cause problems. Maybe I should have thought this through some more

 

[satay]

I have had a mother hen take in babies that were not her babies but i always had them seperated from the other hens in the flock. You will just have to watch and make sure the hen accepts the new babies (not all will) and make sure the other hens are not attacking them.

 

[un-named543]

I think it will be OK....soon the broody will take her babies off the nest to run around and she should protect them from the other hens. This will free up that second box for egg laying. The broody will just sit down when her babies need to cuddle under her for warmth. Unless blocked in that nest, she most likely will move out of it soon.
Better yet, is there a place where the broody and babies can go until they grow a little, away from the main flock?

 

[Amp]

I have a dog crate I could put them in but then would I have to worry about re introducing everyone to the flock? I want to put the chicks under her tonight and I'm afraid if I move her now then that my disrupt her.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Bring the dog crate into the coop and put the broody and chicks in it tonight after dark. I watch them for 10 or 15 minutes to make sure the broody isn't going to peck them then check as early as possible in the morning. If you let them nest in the crate inside the coop they aren't taken away from the flock, so no need to re-introduce them. Good luck!