I have donated 12 eggs to my daughter's K class for incubation - and will get whichever chicks hatch. I want to be able to have a mama hen take care of them for me when they arrive, as all my birds are free-range, but am wondering how to go about it. Complicating the matter is that I also have 4 guineas that run with the herd, and the chickens are afraid of them. Any pointers/advice? Thanks
You probably wont want to integrate them until they are full grown. You can't give babies to a hen unless she is broody at the very least. If one of your current flock sees them they will probably attack. Even when grown you get to suffer through flock integration as they make a new pecking order. Do a search on flock integration on this site and you will find plenty of info. I have my two groups in coops next to each other. The older ones can see the babies. I don't plan on letting them both out until the young ones are full grown.
