Let hen raise chicks or hand raise indoors?

[Mandolynn81]

we have two 6 month old hens. "rooster"(she was a scraggly mean chick that turned out to be a beautiful sweet hen lol) has been laying for 3 weeks and "belina" just started this week. Belina takes about 2 hours making a nest and laying an egg each day, and then she sits on it until we come and get it and shoo her out of the nesting box and she goes about her daily activities.

we think belina is a buff orphington? and rooster is a plymouth rock?

we are new to this, and want more ( our other chicken ended up being a rooster and we had to rehome our ducks because they needed more space).

the big question is - should we try buying a fertilized egg and allow Belina to hatch her own chick? or will this make her more apt to be broody again? we have 1/3 of an acre in a town and plan to eventually only have 6 max, so want to add maybe one per year. so we don't want her to go broody all the time.

or would it be better to buy a chick and hand raise them with the brooder indoors (like we did these gals)

our girls are very social with us and friendly. they sit on our lap and follow us around and we like that. we would like new babies to be the similar.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Belina doesn't seem to be broody yet (or at least committed) so it's unlikely she'll sit reliably to hatch at this time. If you don't want a hen to brood best to break her of her broodiness once she makes up her mind to sit.

I highly recommend against adding only 1 chick - it'll be lonely and needy without another chick to grow up with. It may make for a more difficult integration, particularly if you end up having to brood it yourself, and may lead it to being ostracized by the other two. I would suggest adding 2 chicks minimum, 3 would be better, in case something happens to 1.

As a generalization hand raised chicks will likely be friendlier than broody raised chicks.

 

[Dragonwolfmastr]

I agree with rosemarythyme, you should wait until Belina is broody to add chicks to a flock. It is your choice to brood chicks yourself or let them be raised by Belina.

I think letting her mother them is a much more natural process, personally. The chicks will have better survival rates if
1) there is at least 2, hopefully 3 or 4 of them
2) If you add a heat lamp AND let them snuggle under Belina's breast or wings.

 

[bpoore04]

we think belina is a buff orphington? and rooster is a plymouth rock?

yes it looks like you have a Plymouth barred rock and a buff Orpington

 

[50-45-1]

The problem with letting your hen hatch out fertle eggs is that half the chicks will likely be roosters.
However if you let her be broody for 3 weeks then purchase day old sexed chicks, you could slide them under her at night and she would raise them for you.
Having a broody raise chicks is SO much easier than all the rigamrole of heat lamps, brooder cleaning, and then the problematic intigration to the older birds when the time comes.
I do not find broodied chicks less friendly, in fact my broodies show them i am not to be feared, and in fact bring bearing gifts usually.
This all depends on if your hen becomes dedicated to broodiness, which i do not think is the case at this point.
Will she go broody more or less often once she expierences it?
Dont think it matters, she will or wont, regardless.
Your chickens are beautiful!