I have inadvertently started a chicken orphanage (and some crazy chicken math)

[RedheadErin]

it seems like the same thing keeps happening--of each of my 3 hens who had chicks, there always seems to be one that lags behind the others in hatching. It emerges after the hen gets off the nest, then winds up motherless because the hen doesn't realize it's hers. My son went out to the shed this morning to feed and guess what!? Another random chick, nobody ever saw it before, sitting in the shed. Apparently it came out of a community nest. A maren was last seen sitting on the nest, but nobody was with the chick. Kiddo took it around to all 3 marens (one has a single baby) to see how they would react to it--none showed the least bit of interest. Oh well, put it in the brooder!

So now I have 3 in the brooder, all of different sizes.

Current hen math:

EE's: 4
Marens: 3
Cochin mix: 3
Leghorn: 1
Brahma: 1
Guinea: 1
Chicks with cochin mix Debra: 5
Chicks with cochin mix Victoria: 3
Chicks with guinea hen: 4
Chicks with maren: 1
Chicks in brooder 3
Chicks I bought to keep orphan chick company before I knew there would be more orphans: 5
Pets and roosters: 2
Muscovys 3


Total 6 hens, 21 chicks, 5 others

This all started with 6 chicks from an embryology project.

 

[BrendaJ]

Chicken math is a very welcomed illness on this site

 

[Mathew544]

Can you put some of the chicks under the broody hens at night? I have read on here that certain breeds (like Brahmas) will accept the chicks this way and raise them. Personally I would be there in the morning just to make sure it took! Good luck!

 

[RedheadErin]

Unfortunately, they are developing the bad habit of not going in at night. I just talked to my boy and found out that he has not had a light on in the shed at dusk, so of course they are less motivated to congregate in the shed.