I just got 2 black sex links the other day - they are about a week old, I would guess. Well, I tried to introduce them to our RIR hen - she has been all by herself for about 7 months after our other hen was killed by a opossum. At first I just put them in the yard where she was free ranging. She came over to investigate, and seemed fine. She would peck at the same spots on the ground that the chicks were, but no attacks. Last night I tried putting them in the coop with her for a bit, and she just ran in and out of the coop squawking, but again, no attacks. I brought the chicks back inside for the night and she settled down. This afternoon, I brought the chicks out again, and our RIR runs around the yard squawking, and then goes and hides in the bushes in the corner. I was hoping she would adopt them, since she just got over being broody about 2 weeks ago, but maybe I waited too long?
Yeah, the hen has to still be broody, and the chicks have to be only a day or two old. To get a hen to accept them, you have to slip them under her at night, during her broodyness when she would be "expecting" there to suddenly be chicks under her. You'll have to put those chicks into a brooder with a heat lamp until they are big enough to hold their own against the RIR, or she could injure them badly.
