Moral delemma...wanting cake and eating it too..

[Mrs. K]

RR & LG You are both right. Chicken math, I was perfectly happy, just a couple eggs, and then opportunity for 5, couple breeds I want...ugh

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It is going to depend on how good of a mother your hen is...

I am somewhat conflicted by the notion that a hen who will accept every stray chick in the barn yard is a GOOD MOTHER. A good mother in my book is one who binds to her own brood and sticks with them through thick and thin, while maybe tolerating the presence of younger chicks but usually resenting any chick older than her own. That is the reality of chicken society and to violate this reality is pushing the envelope of chicken society.

Let's say that you grafted a pair of day old chicks onto a hen who already had a clutch of 2 week olds. The reality is that in about another one or two weeks your momma hen will wean her brood and then you are stuck with what are basically baby chicks without a mama and the chicks who are older will make life miserable for the younger two.

 

[123RedBeard]

I'd let mama hen hatch what she has under her ...

If you want the others, get them, and put them in a brooder ...

Time will tell ... she may hatch all three eggs ... !

 

[lomine]

I don't think there's any way to know for sure what will happen. I have a really hard time hatching eggs (multiple factors) and apparently so do my broodies. One of my broodies didn't have any eggs hatch. I gave her one I managed to hatch in the incubator as soon as it was dry. They never bonded and she eventually killed it on day two.

I had another broody not hatch eggs. I gave her a few chicks from the bator. She gladly adopted them (gave them a couple days of bonding in a kennel). I put a few other chicks from the same bator hatch in the coop with a heating plate. I thought it would be too many for a first time broody and I wasn't sure how she would do. After a week or so she had adopted all of them and no one was using the heating plate. It was kind of funny to see her gain a chick or two in her brood each day.

Had another broody manage to hatch one egg. A week later only one of my chicks in the bator hatched. I didn't want to brood one chick alone so I decided to take the chance and see if she would take it. Put all three in the kennel for a couple of days and they bonded. Both chicks were fully feathered and roosting before she weaned them.

These two also happen to be broody at the same time last time and neither liked the other's chicks. Though they were a few weeks apart in age. I have managed to get both of them to adopt mail order chicks too. I prefer having chicks raised by broodies so it's worth it to me to try. But it's never a guarantee.

 

[Mrs. K]

hough they were a few weeks apart in age. I have managed to get both of them to adopt mail order chicks too. I prefer having chicks raised by broodies so it's worth it to me

ok, the hatched chicks and the mail order chicks were a week apart in age? maybe this would work, I had just decided to see what hatches...now I am dreaming...

 

[lomine]

ok, the hatched chicks and the mail order chicks were a week apart in age? maybe this would work, I had just decided to see what hatches...now I am dreaming...

No, the hen that took a single chick that was a week younger had hatched one of her eggs and took a single chick I hatched from the incubator. Her hatched chick was a week older. I don't think it would have been much difference if I had offered mail order chicks instead. She seemed much happier with two chicks instead of just one. I think she just likes brooding because she is sitting again for the second time this year.

 

[lazy gardener]

one week age span is far less difference in chick size and ability than 2 week age span. Not to mention that by the time the shipped chicks get to the feed store, they are most likely 2 - 3 days old.

 

[lomine]

Yes that’s true on age difference. I just meant I don’t think she cares much where the chick came from. It was during her first brooding that she adopted chicks I ordered through the mail.

 

[Mrs. K]

Dang it, eggs are gone, looks like one broke, pieces are stuck to her.

 

[lomine]

That's too bad. Are you going to buy chicks instead and try to get her to adopt them?