making on of you chickens adopt baby ones

[Ch1ckChick]

Two of my chickens died on Sunday and I am going to get new ones. But will my golden sex links take them in as their babies. Will they not. IS their anything I can do to make them want to adopt them?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sometimes a hen that is broody, been sitting wanting to hatch eggs can be tricked of convinced into taking chicks. I don't think sex link hens go broody, especially this time of year, she will probably kill any chicks you try to give her, you will have to brood them.

 

[Teila]

Howdy Ch1ckChick

Sadly I have to agree with oldhenlikesdogs in that I do not think the chances of successfully introducing chicks to non broodys is high and I am more inclined to it being a very sad outcome.

As oldhenlikesdogs has suggested, you could brood them until they are bigger and then integrate them.

Another option, as you are going to have to go through the integration process anyways, is to get a couple of pullets and after a suitable quarantine period, integrate them into the flock.

 

[azygous]

Can you be more informative about your plans? How many adult chickens do you have? Were the chickens that died adults or pullets or babies? Do you know what made them die? Was it illness or were they killed by predators?

If these adults died from illness, you need to figure out what it was before bringing in more chicks. If predators killed them, have you taken measures to improve security?

And no, adult hens are very unlikely to adopt chicks. They are much more likely to kill them.

It's possible to integrate chicks at a young age with the flock, but first things first.

 

[Ch1ckChick]

OK thanks though

 

[Ch1ckChick]

I have three adult sex links that will be turning 1 year old in april the chickens that died would be 1 year in April too. The chickens died of a fox attack. And we have put them back in their coop at 4:30 before foxes come out. And we also plan to catch the fox and relocate it.

 

[Ch1ckChick]

so how old should the baby chickens be before I add them to the flock?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I begin integrating mine between 6-10 weeks.

 

[keesmom]

The chickens died of a fox attack. And we have put them back in their coop at 4:30 before foxes come out. And we also plan to catch the fox and relocate it.

IF you manage to trap it, you should dispatch it. In most places it is illegal to "relocate" wildlife. I am assuming you free range? If you free range then you are likely to lose birds to a predator at some point whether it's foxes, coyotes, eagles, hawks, fishers, mink, raccoons, and the list goes on.

As others have said, your hens are more likely to kill chicks than adopt them. They are not broody and not in the mothering frame of mind. Chicks would be seen as intruders and likely eliminated. So it's best if you brood and introduce them when they are older. I tend to wait until the newcomers are close in size to the resident hens (in my case 4 months of age). There's no set rule for that age though, it will depend on your hens' personalities.

 

[Teila]

IF you manage to trap it, you should dispatch it. In most places it is illegal to "relocate" wildlife. I am assuming you free range? If you free range then you are likely to lose birds to a predator at some point whether it's foxes, coyotes, eagles, hawks, fishers, mink, raccoons, and the list goes on.

As others have said, your hens are more likely to kill chicks than adopt them. They are not broody and not in the mothering frame of mind. Chicks would be seen as intruders and likely eliminated. So it's best if you brood and introduce them when they are older. I tend to wait until the newcomers are close in size to the resident hens (in my case 4 months of age). There's no set rule for that age though, it will depend on your hens' personalities.

Totally agree with all of the above and yep, integration age does depend on your flock's personalities; I usually start integration around the 10-12 week mark and with the method I use, it takes a couple of weeks.