Missing broody egg - can I give her a store bought chick now?

[countryladyNH]

Seriously, you will be making a mistake to 'sneak' chicks under broody hen at night. You should wait until closer to the 21 days, but then take the egg and bring at least 2 chicks out to her. Let them interact. The chicks do not have to be only a few days old. The hen will really not know the difference if the chicks are a week or so. DO NOT put them under a hen in the night.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

Seriously, you will be making a mistake to 'sneak' chicks under broody hen at night. You should wait until closer to the 21 days, but then take the egg and bring at least 2 chicks out to her. Let them interact. The chicks do not have to be only a few days old. The hen will really not know the difference if the chicks are a week or so. DO NOT put them under a hen in the night.

Thank you for your help, I figure tomorrow is 21 days so I’ll try to reintroduce them then. Do you have any tips for it?

 

[countryladyNH]

Thank you for your help, I figure tomorrow is 21 days so I’ll try to reintroduce them then. Do you have any tips for it?

I would just remove the egg (s) and then immediately bring in the chicks. You can set them down by her side. Don't try to 'sneak' them under her. The hen usually immediately gathers up the chicks and pushes them under her herself. We've seen this work many times, no problems. Stick around and just watch for awhile. Best of luck! Hope you keep everyone posted!!

 

[countryladyNH]

Any news on the chicks and broody???

 

[TopazMaster91]

I'd be apprehensive about doing it in the daytime; I've done it at night with no problems, the only time I had a mama reject a chick was when I tried it during the day. When you do it at night the chick goes to sleep under the mom, and cheeps a bit. Before an egg hatches, the mom and chicks actually communicate;
this kind of mimics that.
You don't want the broody to see the chick you're handing over as an intruder,
doing this at night minimizes that risk.
Then the mama wakes up in the morning with a little baby under her, she thinks she hatched it, and it's all good from there; you just gotta wake up early to observe and intervene if for some reason she doesn't accept the chick.
Seriously, there's no good reason to do it during the day;
chickens are like zombies at night, and it's much easier.

 

[countryladyNH]

I'd be apprehensive about doing it in the daytime; I've done it at night with no problems, the only time I had a mama reject a chick was when I tried it during the day. When you do it at night the chick goes to sleep under the mom, and cheeps a bit. Before an egg hatches, the mom and chicks actually communicate;
this kind of mimics that.
You don't want the broody to see the chick you're handing over as an intruder,
doing this at night minimizes that risk.
Then the mama wakes up in the morning with a little baby under her, she thinks she hatched it, and it's all good from there; you just gotta wake up early to observe and intervene if for some reason she doesn't accept the chick.
Seriously, there's no good reason to do it during the day;
chickens are like zombies at night, and it's much easier.

We had just the opposite experience and the chicken rejected chicks at night and they died. Good luck when we did it in the day, introducing them slowly to broody hen. Just would never do the night thing again...Really it's up the hen if she accepts the chicks or not. Some do. Some don't.

 

[TopazMaster91]

We had just the opposite experience and the chicken rejected chicks at night and they died. Good luck when we did it in the day, introducing them slowly to broody hen. Just would never do the night thing again...Really it's up the hen if she accepts the chicks or not. Some do. Some don't.

I'm sorry you had that experience.
Like you said, it is totally up to the hen, there's nothing anyone can do to change that. However, there are good reasons for doing it at night, and all things being equal, I do think it is the safer option, and this is backed by plenty of experience from many people.

 

[countryladyNH]

I'm sorry you had that experience.
Like you said, it is totally up to the hen, there's nothing anyone can do to change that. However, there are good reasons for doing it at night, and all things being equal, I do think it is the safer option, and this is backed by plenty of experience from many people.

Completely disagree, but we all have that right and different experiences.

 

[NorthernMIFlock]

My broody buff diligently sat in brutal heat for 21 days only to hatch out one of 5 last week. Since I didn’t want little “Solo” to go it alone when mom was done raising it, we bought 4 tractor supply chicks (they arrived that morning) and stuck them in her nest while she was laying near it. She looked at them and then immediately tucked them all in. This was in daylight hours. It honestly was the one of the sweetest things I’ve ever

seen.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

So just to update (sorry it’s been a while, lots of stuff going on) I did try reintroducing them and my hen still pecked at them. I just decided for my peace of mind since I can’t have a brooder in my coop to just brood them myself in my outside shed. They are doing well, I glad that I got two so they have each other for the company. I had thought about trying again but then thought about how mean my rooster is to this hen and thought better because I wouldn’t want him to scare her away and then the little chicks not be able to defend themselves. I really do think I could have gotten my hen used to them where she could have wanted them if I could have had a brooder in the coop for her to constantly see them. If I ever build another coop I will add a spot to brood chicks just to make life easier and my shed less dirty!

Thank you all for your comments and help!