Introducing day olds to broody hen

[Dailypix]

Last fall after a Pine Marten got into our coop and killed all but one hen I gave up on the idea of staying at the rural property all winter and moved back to the city. I brought the rescued hen and built her a nice coop in the garage. I was collecting about 5 eggs a week until about three weeks ago when she suddenly went broody. by then I collected all the eggs so she was sitting on nothing but it did not seem to matter.
Today in preparation for spring (Still 3 feet of snow up north) I picked up an assortment of day olds from the nursery. I have them in their own pen with a heater and chick starter. Tonight I slipped three under the broody hen to see what might happen. not a peep from the chicks. She is purring softly. I hope all will be well in the morning. If they are adopted I will add some more tomorrow night.
If I did the post right here is a portrait of the broody hen trying to hatch chicks out of thin air. Won’t she be surprised if it worked!

 

[A.M. Eggs]

Wow you went through a lot. Thankfully the one hen that goes broody is safe and sound with you. The new chicks will be her new best friends!

 

[gimmie birdies]

Be sure it is dark when you introduce them, and even if she accepts one batch she may bond to the first set, and not accept the next batch (which you will have to do at night too), so you will have watch them as well.

 

[Dailypix]

So today there was no sign of the chicks in the coop. Mama hen still spread out and purring. I tossed some lettuce in and she came bounding out. The three chicks still alive and well apparently surprised at the removal of the feathery heating pad. If all continues I will add a few more tonight.

 

[Dailypix]

So I was able to introduce 7 baby chicks to a broody hen using the nighttime method. It was instantly successful and and mama is very protective. She takes them out to eat and drink. When I get too close she threatens me, growls to the chicks and they all run back into the cat carrier being used as the broody nest. The orphans are now her own chicks.
I am in the city for the winter and the nursery is a run in the garage. We should be returning to the rural property full time third week in May and they will be moved out of the garage and put in the country run at that time. In the meantime I’m trying a little experiment. I set up the nursery in a corner as an “L” shape four foot off the ground, 2 feet wide and two six or 8 foot runs against the wall meeting in the corner. On one end the cat carrier with mama and her 7 chicks, on the other end an electric heater with the other 7 chicks.
Both flocks have the same chick starter feed and water founts. They can hear each other but must travel from the warm end of their coop all the way down to the end to look round the corner to see the other group. There is no physical barrier and the groups could mix if they wanted but so far they have not wanted to mix.
When mama was out with her group I tried introducing one of the motherless girls by simply picking her up and dumping her in the crowd of chicks who were pecking at the crumbles in a shark frenzy. I figured who would notice?
Mama sure did. She went for the stranger instantly. She menaced and pecked in a very threatening and scary manner she intimidated the intruder who quickly ran back, turned the corner and retreated to her own flock. Pretty sure there has been no voluntary mixing. After two days 2 flocks, 7 on each side. It was interesting to see how suddenly the broody hen became aggressive. It was like she saw a rat.
I think it will be interesting to see how they grow, will there be differences in weight gain? Will they eventually meet, establish pecking orders and become a single flock? Will the Colombian Wyandotte begin to accept them or will she go nuts and try and start a war?
In six weeks or so they get crated up and moved to the farm. I expect the by then the chicks will be large enough to sort things out by themselves. I suspect the mama will tolerate the strangers when they become older.

 

[Dailypix]

Today two of the orphan chicks managed to join the mother hen flock. Don’t know how the first did it. Recall that she was very aggressive and wanted nothing to do with one I tried to introduce during feeding time. In the afternoon I was watching them. Both groups were out scratching. The motherless group seemed to be watching the big hen and her chicks. I noticed one was missing. I counted mama’s group and there were 8. One of the motherless chicks stayed a safe distance but slightly in the territory of the other. I came a bit close and mama hen clucked loudly and all “her” chicks scrambled back into the cat carrier. The instant she turned her back to join them the one that was watching took off like rocket propelled right under her legs and into the nest at the same time. Looks like she didn’t notice just turned around, settled on her brood and grumbled at me. Now it is mama hen with 9, the electric heater with 5. Fascinating.