hens and day old baby chicks that arent theres?

[Chickley]

I planned to get some new day old baby chicks, and also letting my banty hens hatch there own(americana-dad,banty-mom), if I put the new baby chicks in with the new mom when her chicks hatch, will she accept them and think that they came out of her brood? Will I have to set up a little caged are for them to get big? Or can I put them in with a different hen that doesnt have a brood, will she accept them? I really could use some advice here please I just don't know what to do. Thanks though!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens are living animals. I cannot guarantee what they will do. Sometimes the new mama will accept other chicks as her own, especially if the chicks are very young and the same age as hers. Sometimes she will consider them intruders and try to kill them so they can't threaten her babies. I think most of the time she will accept them. You can try but you have to watch and see if she accepts them. If she does not accept them, you have to be ready to raise them yourself in a brooder.

Another thing to consider is that a mama hen has to be able to keep all her babies warm. If you get more chicks than she can handle, some may not survive. A banty is small and cannot handle very many. I don't have bantams so I cannot give you a good number of how many she can handle.

If a hen is not broody, she will not accept the chicks and try to raise them. Odds are she would try to harm them.

Hope this helps.