Looking for tips on successful chick adoption by broody hen.

[fmorlando1]

Most of my flock are Buff Orpingtons as is my only rooster. I want to diversify my flock and have an order of 6 chicks scheduled to arrive from the hatchery tomorrow morning. My intent was to put them in a brooder but since I put in the order in I now have a broody hen. I think she has been broody for about a week and a half to 2 weeks, I tried breaking her by quickly removing all eggs and moving her out of the nest box but she would immediately return I even caught her moving eggs from other boxes to hers. When those were taken away she would still sit without any eggs. Since I have the new chicks coming in I've decided to try to see if I can get to to adopt them. 5 days ago I gave her 2 fake eggs and 2 real eggs and moved her into a private box out of the coop and away from the other chickens in the garage. I have yet to see her leave her new nest. From what I have read there would be a better chance of a successful adoption if she had been sitting for a longer period of time but the chicks were already scheduled to arrive tomorrow so I'm going to give it a shot.
I've also read you can have more success putting the chicks under her at night but since they will arrive early tomorrow morning I would like to get them under her as quickly as possible. So I'm going to black out the windows of the garage to simulate night and put them under her right away and remove her eggs. I figure this way I can also sneak in and monitor if she is accepting them. If she doesn't accept them I will be ready to move them into a brooder. If she doesn't accept them and I have removed her eggs will she stay broody? And if so should I give her her eggs back. I would hate to try and break her after she has been sitting. She seems very committed to being a mother. Any thoughts, additional tips or flaws in my plan?

 

[MountainWoman73]

The other good advice I got when I tried this the first time was to get them a little cold first, so that they will want to stick with her. Often in cases of failure, the chicks reject the mom, not the other way around. Getting them cold makes them ready to snuggle up and sleep under her.

Since shipping is so hard on baby chicks, I would pop them in a brooder for 12 hours and get them eating and drinking first. Then slip them under her at night the first night. Otherwise you're looking at an additional 24-36 hours AFTER they arrive that they won't get to eat and drink. (She'll think they're newly hatched and stay with them on the nest so they can rest and dry). I think everyone will do better if the babies get food and water and a chance to stretch their legs before they get tucked in to bed for the night.

 

[fmorlando1]

The other good advice I got when I tried this the first time was to get them a little cold first, so that they will want to stick with her. Often in cases of failure, the chicks reject the mom, not the other way around. Getting them cold makes them ready to snuggle up and sleep under her.

Since shipping is so hard on baby chicks, I would pop them in a brooder for 12 hours and get them eating and drinking first. Then slip them under her at night the first night. Otherwise you're looking at an additional 24-36 hours AFTER they arrive that they won't get to eat and drink. (She'll think they're newly hatched and stay with them on the nest so they can rest and dry). I think everyone will do better if the babies get food and water and a chance to stretch their legs before they get tucked in to bed for the night

 

[fmorlando1]

Thank you great advise. I wasn't thinking about how much time they would not have access to food and water if she accepts them. Do you think I should put the brooder out of earshot from her so she doesn't hear their peeping or might it be good for her to hear them?

 

[fmorlando1]

The other good advice I got when I tried this the first time was to get them a little cold first, so that they will want to stick with her. Often in cases of failure, the chicks reject the mom, not the other way around. Getting them cold makes them ready to snuggle up and sleep under her.

Since shipping is so hard on baby chicks, I would pop them in a brooder for 12 hours and get them eating and drinking first. Then slip them under her at night the first night. Otherwise you're looking at an additional 24-36 hours AFTER they arrive that they won't get to eat and drink. (She'll think they're newly hatched and stay with them on the nest so they can rest and dry). I think everyone will do better if the babies get food and water and a chance to stretch their legs before they get tucked in to bed for the night.

 

[fmorlando1]

Thank you again for your advice! Looks like a successful adoption! Mama is cooing, babies are peeping and going in and out from under her to eat and drink. So far I haven’t seen mama come out of the nesting box but she is alert and watching them.
I’ll continue to keep a close eye on them but so far so good!

 

[K0k0shka]

If they are already contained within a wire cage, I would strongly recommend moving that cage into the chicken coop so the flock can start getting used to them right away. Separating the hen can be practical so others don't sit or lay in her nest, but you don't have to separate her so far away and out of view of the flock. In fact that's not advisable, because then you'd have to worry about reintroduction/integration. So move her back into the coop, in her cage, as soon as you can, and leave her there with the babies for a few days, so the rest of the flock can meet them and get accustomed to them. Then you can start opening the cage door for them to venture out and get used to the larger space. They'll probably stay inside the coop for a few days, before they are brave enough to follow mom out. Orpingtons are calm and friendly so they'll probably be fine with the babies, but do stay with them and observe when you first open the door, to see how the other flock members will react.

 

[fmorlando1]

If they are already contained within a wire cage, I would strongly recommend moving that cage into the chicken coop so the flock can start getting used to them right away. Separating the hen can be practical so others don't sit or lay in her nest, but you don't have to separate her so far away and out of view of the flock. In fact that's not advisable, because then you'd have to worry about reintroduction/integration. So move her back into the coop, in her cage, as soon as you can, and leave her there with the babies for a few days, so the rest of the flock can meet them and get accustomed to them. Then you can start opening the cage door for them to venture out and get used to the larger space. They'll probably stay inside the coop for a few days, before they are brave enough to follow mom out. Orpingtons are calm and friendly so they'll probably be fine with the babies, but do stay with them and observe when you first open the door, to see how the other flock members will react.

Thank you for the advice. Mama and babies are now setup in their own mini-coop and run inside the regular run. The adults go out and free range during the day but are in and out of the run/coop all day. After initial great interest in mama and babies they quickly went back to business as usual. I'll take your advice and leave them contained for a few days before I try supervised venturing out. Really appreciate this because last year I had a broody hen hatch out her own chicks and kept them separated this will be so much easier. Question, so last year when I started to let them free range together, at about 3 weeks, giving all the chickens access to both the normal free range area and the yard,
where I was keeping mama and babies, the adult hens immediately rushed and started gobbling up the chick starter food. How do I make sure everyone eats the right food? Should I build an area for the chick food with a small entrance that only the chicks can get through? But this would not keep the chicks from eating the adult layer feed. Or am I overthinking this?

 

[rural mouse]

Thank you for the advice. Mama and babies are now setup in their own mini-coop and run inside the regular run. The adults go out and free range during the day but are in and out of the run/coop all day. After initial great interest in mama and babies they quickly went back to business as usual. I'll take your advice and leave them contained for a few days before I try supervised venturing out. Really appreciate this because last year I had a broody hen hatch out her own chicks and kept them separated this will be so much easier. Question, so last year when I started to let them free range together, at about 3 weeks, giving all the chickens access to both the normal free range area and the yard,
where I was keeping mama and babies, the adult hens immediately rushed and started gobbling up the chick starter food. How do I make sure everyone eats the right food? Should I build an area for the chick food with a small entrance that only the chicks can get through? But this would not keep the chicks from eating the adult layer feed. Or am I overthinking this?

Switch the feed to an all flock and do a container of oyster shell on the side. Protein content is usually better than a layer feed and any roos don't need the calcium.

 

[K0k0shka]

Question, so last year when I started to let them free range together, at about 3 weeks, giving all the chickens access to both the normal free range area and the yard,
where I was keeping mama and babies, the adult hens immediately rushed and started gobbling up the chick starter food. How do I make sure everyone eats the right food? Should I build an area for the chick food with a small entrance that only the chicks can get through? But this would not keep the chicks from eating the adult layer feed. Or am I overthinking this?

They can all eat chick starter, or an all flock feed, the important thing is for protein to be around 20% and no added calcium. Add calcium in a separate container for the layers (crushed eggshell or crushed oyster shell). That's better in general anyway. I don't use layer feed. I prefer to let the chickens decide how much calcium they need, because their needs vary throughout the year and their lives, but layer feed has a flat ratio.