Incubate? Plz help!

[bittychicks]

Yea you could bring the cage in the house. If you don't mind that, that is. I'd keep her somewhere quite, and out of the way so shes comfortable. You could probably leave her be in the coop, but then there's always the fear that the other hen might disturb her. If you go to put her in a crate, do it at dusk or at night so she won't be so upset and will probably settle down quicker. After she is settled in then introduce the fertile eggs that you want incubated.

 

[backyardflock1]

I'll try to do that- if the rooster lets me that is.

 

[bittychicks]

Ok well good luck, hopefully you will have a successful hatch pretty soon!

 

[backyardflock1]

Yes! thank-you for all your help!

 

[backyardflock1]

Another question; if I did incubate them Should I put them after a bit with the hen (or would she not think they r hers?) and would the older chickens hurt the smaller ones? (I'm assuming yes)

 

[bittychicks]

If she has eggs under her, even fake eggs and then you switch in the fertile eggs, she probably would be fine. If they hatch in the incubator she probably wouldn't want to raise them, because she wouldn't accept them as hers. She would raise them, you might want to keep them separate from the other chickens at first, but after that she would defend them.

 

[red horse ranch]

One thing you must know before letting her brood inside your house;
They get off the eggs once a day to eat, drink and POOP! And broody poop STINKS!
You'll need a pretty large dog crate to giver her room to move around and not be near the poop. Or else confine her to an area with a lot of newspapers on the floor so you can quickly get it out of the house.

I have let a hen brood inside once during a cold winter. But I wouldn't do it again.

 

[backyardflock1]

So I should wait to introduce the chicks to everyone but let the hen meet them early on so she gets to know them and will eventually care for them?

 

[PrairieChickens]

I know I'm late to this convo, but given the choice, I'd let a broody incubate and raise the chicks over doing it myself. A good broody is an invaluable asset, and unlike me, she can devote all of her time and energy to teaching and integrating the chicks. The chicks we have that were raised by broodies are far better adjusted, outgoing, and active than their human-reared counterparts. They were fully integrated into the flock at just a few weeks of age, thanks to their sassy mama's protection, meanwhile 3-month old "chicks" we'd gotten in September were still outsiders to the flock. Like others have pointed out, you want to make sure she's truly broody before you plunk eggs under her, but if she's ready to go, I'd let her.

And as for the temperatures, depending on where you live, it may not be cold enough to necessitate bringing her indoors. Our broody Anna managed to hatch out four perfectly healthy babies even with below-freezing temps outside.

 

[PrairieChickens]

So I should wait to introduce the chicks to everyone but let the hen meet them early on so she gets to know them and will eventually care for them?

If the hen hatches the chicks herself, she'll take care of integrating them with the rest of the flock. If she doesn't, it's uncertain whether or not she'll take responsibility for them. One thing I've heard of people doing is putting fake eggs under the broody, then when the chicks hatch in the incubator, you just sneak them under mama hen at night, and she thinks she hatched them.