Hens "adopting" baby chicks?

[BlueEggsDaily]

I would like to raise a couple more chicks next spring. We already have 7 hens right now born this past spring. Has anyone ever tried to coax their hens to "adopt" new chicks? The hens might have to be "brooding" during the same time for it to work maybe.

 

[Veer67]

I would recommend sneaking the chicks under the hen at night (or when it's dark) and while she is broody because a hen that is not broody could attack and kill the chicks, though sometimes even a broody hen will attack her chicks. But be on the watch out just in case your hens don't accept them.

 

[sourland]

Broody hens, especially if they have been setting for a period of time, will generally foster chicks that are slipped beneath them in the evening. Non broody hens will peck at and frequently kill and eat chicks.

 

[write2caroline]

If you have a broody hen. They will sit on golf balls. You can sneak very young chicks under them. I would not place them under a hen that is not broody because they will peck at the chicks and can be kind of mean. They will consider the chicks competition for food and such.

Broody hens are all prickly in personality. When approached they raise their feathers so they kind of look like feathered basketballs.

They make an odd sound that might remind you of Godzilla.

There is really nothing you can do to make them broody and it is even harder to make them stop. They will not lay eggs when broody.

So if you recognize your hens are going broody, you can order chicks and try. I have not been successful at that because I always ended up ordering the chicks and by the time they came the broody ended her broodiness but maybe yours will work out better. I do think Momma chickens do a grand job of raising the biddies.

Caroline