Introducing hatched chick to it's mother

[Essygirl]

I have a batam hen and her eggs are all days apart, so because she's busy raising the few chicks that are already hatched, she's neglected her other eggs.
I figured since she stopped laying on them, I would bring the eggs inside under a heat lamp and when they start hatching, slip them back under her with her other chicks.

One of her eggs though needed help hatching as its membrane was dried and couldn't get out. So I helped hatch it and now it's out of its egg, however I find I'm now having trouble reintroducing it back to its mother.
Ive read its best to get a hen to adopt a chick by slipping it under from behind in the evening when it's more relaxed and laying down.
It's morning though and I fear the longer I wait to put the chick back, the less chance she'll accept it.
Does anyone know how to help and what I can do???
Any advice would be great right now !

 

[SIMZ]

How much of an age difference is there between this new chick and the ones she already has? I think you could wait until the hen has her chicks back under her in the evening, as long as the new chick is only a day or two old. Keep in mind that not all hens will accept new chicks, so keep a close eye on her. I've had it go both ways.

 

[Essygirl]

How much of an age difference is there between this new chick and the ones she already has?  I think you could wait until the hen has her chicks back under her in the evening, as long as the new chick is only a day or two old.  Keep in mind that not all hens will accept new chicks, so keep a close eye on her.  I've had it go both ways. 

Another of her eggs have hatched, so now I have 2 chicks that are both less than a day old. The chicks she has already are between 4-10 days old.
When she was laying on her other chicks, I placed her eggs under her and snuck one of the chicks in with them. It's been a few hours and she seems to be fine with it. She's still neglecting it a bit though as she's interacting with the older chicks, but I've been checking on it often and everything seems to be fine.
I'll re-introduce her other newborn in the evening, hope this one will be successful as well!

 

[SIMZ]

Glad to hear it! Sounds like it's going well! That is a pretty big age span in the chicks, though.

If you'd like to avoid this in the future, you can get some eggs together when you know she's broody. Then mark them somehow - I put a smiley face on them with marker. Then you can add your eggs one night and keep taking out the extra unmarked eggs each day to avoid a staggered hatch. (When I do that I also leave a few of her original eggs until they all are warm, then take the originals out.) This way you'll know all the eggs should hatch in 21 days and all the chicks will be the same age.

 

[Essygirl]

Glad to hear it!  Sounds like it's going well!  That is a pretty big age span in the chicks, though.

If you'd like to avoid this in the future, you can get some eggs together when you know she's broody.  Then mark them somehow - I put a smiley face on them with marker.  Then you can add your eggs one night and keep taking out the extra unmarked eggs each day to avoid a staggered hatch.  (When I do that I also leave a few of her original eggs until they all are warm, then take the originals out.)  This way you'll know all the eggs should hatch in 21 days and all the chicks will be the same age. 

Yes we've decided to definetly mark them all next time, I want to avoid this happening again and have learnt a lot from our first batch!
The second chick is going fine and she's accepted them both. Thankyou for the help!

 

[SIMZ]

Great news again! Yes - it's always a learning experience...especially with hens and their chicks. I tend to learn at least one of these lessons every year with them.