I'm going to try it tonight. *Updated with Pictures*Hen w/ 27 chicks

[PunkinPeep]

I can't wait.

I purposely set 7 eggs under my broody at the same time i set 24 eggs in my incubator.

I am waiting for one more chick to hatch, and then i am going to transfer them to my broody. I really think it will work. This is the most studious broody i think i have ever had. She didn't even blink when i moved her to a private area and gave her eggs. There was no adjustment time, no nothing. She just sat down and never moved.

Because of that, i think she'll be most amiable to the idea of raising a lot more chicks than she hatched. I can't wait to see. I think i'll probably be out there at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning to see how she's doing with them.

She has six chicks (one egg was a dud), and i'm giving her 19 chicks. Five of my eggs haven't hatched yet. But hers hatched about a day before mine, so i want to combine them right away. I'm going to do it in the dark, and i hope it will go well.

 

[Lollipop]

Good luck, Punkin. Make sure she can cover them all for warmth. That might be the fly in the ointment.........Pop

 

[kerriliane]

my broody is the same way. I even gave her eggs when her babies were a week old and she piped right up, squawked, and settled right down on them. she wasnt too serious about it thought because her toddlers wouldnt leave her alone, but she was a great broody and if i had found day olds she definitely would have taken them if I gave them to her. She even let me take the babies out from under her then put them back when they were only a day old!

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
She's a pretty big girl - Buff Orp, but i will keep that in mind. I can turn on a heat lamp for her if i need to.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
A cooperative broody. Isn't it great!

 

[PunkinPeep]

Here she is, sitting on 22 day old chicks. It's not a great picture, but it's pitch black dark out there, so this is all i have.

So far so good. It was great to hear the chicks go from screeching to complete silence when they got warm under the hen, to peaceful peeping as they all got comfortable. I have 2 more chicks and 6 eggs still in the 'bator. Hopefully she can handle them all. Less work for me.

 

[abhaya]

If she cant cover them rig up some heat but they should do great. Having a mom will also make integration into the flock easier as they will have someone watching over them.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I checked on her this morning, and they seem to be getting along quite well. I'm thinking i might need the heat lamp at night as the chicks grow larger and the nights grow colder. But for now, they're fine. Hopefully, i'll be able to give her a few more family members tonight, as i still have chicks hatching in the incubator. It's so much nicer to have them raised by a broody. She's just better at it than i am!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I gave her 5 more chicks this evening. That's 27 in all. I think the last three eggs are not going to hatch, sadly.

I know she won't be able to cover them all for very long, but if she'll mother them and teach them the chickenly ways, that's all i'm asking for.

I'm very very pleased.

 

[salunra]

Yay. Good luck with them all.