Introducing new Austrolorps? One of my hens is broody, will she raise them??

[Pimentel]

Hi everyone!

I am wanting to get some new chicks to add to my little flock. We had 6 Austrolorps but now only have 4. They are about 4 years old and still laying pretty well but well but we want more eggs. We want more Austrolorps. My question is how and when do I introduce them?? My girls definitely have their pecking order well established and everyone gets along. We live in CA and it is pretty warm here. And our one hen "Storm" is VERY broody most of the time. Do you think she would raise store bought chicks?

 

[aart]

And our one hen "Storm" is VERY broody most of the time. Do you think she would raise store bought chicks?

How long has she been broody, has she ever hatched and/or been broken?
Best bet for grafting chicks is if hen has been broody for at least 2 weeks, and chicks are 1-3 days old

 

[Pimentel]

Storm has never hatched, this round of broodiness has been maybe a week, if that. The feed store will have new Austrolorp chicks (about 2 days old usually) the 17th of this month (so 2 weeks from today). We haven't ever broken her of her broodiness, maybe that is a rookie mistake?? She eventually rejoins her sisters on her own. We are pretty hands off our hens other than cleaning/maintaining their run and coop, providing them plenty of food, water and kitchen scraps and collecting eggs.

 

[Mrs. K]

More than likely it will work. This is how I do it, and I have never had a fail.

Get the chicks, two weeks from no will be perfect. Make sure every chick has a drink of water, dip their beaks. Then wait for dark. Now this part sound a heartless, but they are tougher than you think. You want to let the chicks sit out a bit and get chilled. People often think that if it fails it is the mothers fault, but it is like any relationship, the chicks have to take to it too. They need to want a warm space, and stick like burs to it.

Wait till all the others have roosted, bring the chicks down, they should be peeping madly. Now, using the dimmest light possible, pick up a chick and either place it under her, or just on top of her back, often times they will just disappear, she will start to shift around as they move under her, her cluck will often change. Once you get all the chicks under, you have to do the hardest part. Close up the coop, and leave them alone. If one crawls out, she may peck at it, to make it go back under, do not interfere. If your nest is small, you might want put a barricade up so that a chick can't fall out of the nest.

The next morning, remove the barricade if you have one. Make sure there is clean bedding on the floor of the coop. There is no need to make a nest for her, I have tried numerous times, only to have her walk right by it, and create something else. Then set up some feed, and water some where near by but not in the nest. No need to get them out of the nest, if she is nesting up above. She will get them down. Do NOT MOVE her to a better nest. Been there done that, and she left it and went back to the one she wanted.

And that should be it, in a day or so, depending on the weather, she will bring them out to the other girls, she will dust bath, fluff up bigger than a beach ball, and the others will think, what are those strange things around her, but leave them alone.

If you watch, she will generally place herself between the chicks and the layers. If you let them out to free range, she won't hang with the layers, but she is still part of the flock.

At about 3-4 weeks, I have had success in placing a wide board at the level of the roosts. She will get them up there, and they will continue to snuggle with her for some time. One day, she will just forget they are her chicks, but they will be part of the flock.

Nothing is as much fun as a hen and chicks.Good luck.

PS - you might loose a chick this way, but sometimes a chick just fails to thrive, so you might have lost them anyway.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

Storm has never hatched, this round of broodiness has been maybe a week, if that. The feed store will have new Austrolorp chicks (about 2 days old usually) the 17th of this month (so 2 weeks from today).

That sounds about perfect!

We haven't ever broken her of her broodiness, maybe that is a rookie mistake?? She eventually rejoins her sisters on her own.

Eh, maybe a mistake, maybe not.<shrugs>
As long as they don't lose condition or become infested with pests, it can be fine.
How long does it take for her rejoin the flock?

 

[Pimentel]

More than likely it will work. This is how I do it, and I have never had a fail.

Thanks! I will give it a try!

 

[Pimentel]

That sounds about perfect!

Eh, maybe a mistake, maybe not.<shrugs>
As long as they don't lose condition or become infested with pests, it can be fine.
How long does it take for her rejoin the flock?

It varies! In the warm weather a little less than a month. Probably around 20 days. When it is colder probably closer to 30 but never more than a month. She is the biggest of the 4 hens. They are all the same breed, she has never had pests