New chick help!!!!

[WitchesFullMoon]

So I have a broody hen who is sitting on eggs that are still hatching... 2 have hatched so far.. I will be getting 5 new day old chicks for my bday within a few weeks by that time the eggs should be finishing up maybe.. But if i put the new chicks with my broody hen will she take care of them or will she try to kill them? This is my first time with very young chicks and a hen that will actually take care of them. So how do I do this safely without having to try to keep them inside?

 

[BYCforlife]

So I have a broody hen who is sitting on eggs that are still hatching... 2 have hatched so far.. I will be getting 5 new day old chicks for my bday within a few weeks by that time the eggs should be finishing up maybe.. But if i put the new chicks with my broody hen will she take care of them or will she try to kill them? This is my first time with very young chicks and a hen that will actually take care of them. So how do I do this safely without having to try to keep them inside?

She should take care of them. Just put the new ones under her in the night, so she can't see them. She should be used to them by morning. Just don't give them your smell too much.

 

[PD-Riverman]

So I have a broody hen who is sitting on eggs that are still hatching... 2 have hatched so far.. I will be getting 5 new day old chicks for my bday within a few weeks by that time the eggs should be finishing up maybe.. But if i put the new chicks with my broody hen will she take care of them or will she try to kill them? This is my first time with very young chicks and a hen that will actually take care of them. So how do I do this safely without having to try to keep them inside?

????? Lets talk about the 2 chicks that have hatched so far and she should be through hatching in a few weeks when you get new chicks???
All the eggs under a broody should be set at the Same time so they all hatch at the same time. If you got a broody that has hatched 2 and has a lot of other eggs under her that you think will take a few weeks to finish hatching-----You got problems. If you are not taking the chicks away from her as soon as they hatch----and you brood them----she will not stay on the nest long and she will have to leave the nest to raise her chicks. Not sure what you got going on???

 

[WitchesFullMoon]

????? Lets talk about the 2 chicks that have hatched so far and she should be through hatching in a few weeks when you get new chicks???
All the eggs under a broody should be set at the Same time so they all hatch at the same time. If you got a broody that has hatched 2 and has a lot of other eggs under her that you think will take a few weeks to finish hatching-----You got problems. If you are not taking the chicks away from her as soon as they hatch----and you brood them----she will not stay on the nest long and she will have to leave the nest to raise her chicks. Not sure what you got going on???

So as I have said in one of my other threads, This is the fist time I have had a hen lay on eggs and for eggs to hatch so I am fairly new at it. When I first noticed she was laying on a nest full of eggs I was told to just leave them alone, not that I was suppose to mark them and keep taking the new ones out. So once I learned about marking them I candled the eggs to find out which ones had a chick growing inside of them and which ones didn't. The 8 that did I left in the nest but since my RIR laid the eggs not my Light Brahma which is the one laying on them the eggs are hatching in a staggered hatch, I have been removing all new eggs ones daily since then. The first one hatched July 17th and the second one on July 20th. My broody hen started taking the chicks out more to feed and all today but still returns to the nest. I candled the last remaining eggs tonight and estimated that they should hatch within 2-7 days then I would have them all done. She is very protective of the eggs and the chicks. I just needed to know if she would raise new ones that she didn't hatch.

 

[WitchesFullMoon]

She should take care of them. Just put the new ones under her in the night, so she can't see them. She should be used to them by morning. Just don't give them your smell too much.

Thank you, that is very helpful

 

[PD-Riverman]

I just needed to know if she would raise new ones that she didn't hatch.

Because of the age difference at the time you get the New Chicks---if you try putting them with her/then you will need to watch them close----she might accept them, then she might not. Even her now chicks will be a lot bigger and they might pick on them and the new might not be able to keep up with the older. I would brood them to better their chances of survival. But that's your call!

Just for info-----On the eggs still in the nest---if she is staying off the eggs most of the day now----the chances of them hatching is getting less daily. Good Luck!

 

[PD-Riverman]

So as I have said in one of my other threads,

Sorry I don't usually go back and read the Posters old threads and even if I replied to some---I do not usually remember that because I am replying to so mant threads---trying to offer help where needed.

 

[cmom]

So I have a broody hen who is sitting on eggs that are still hatching... 2 have hatched so far.. I will be getting 5 new day old chicks for my bday within a few weeks by that time the eggs should be finishing up maybe.. But if i put the new chicks with my broody hen will she take care of them or will she try to kill them? This is my first time with very young chicks and a hen that will actually take care of them. So how do I do this safely without having to try to keep them inside?

She may take care of them and she may not. I have had successful broody's and some not to successful. There is just no way to tell until you try. she may adopt them and she may try to kill them. I have never had any try to kill the chicks. I have had the same situation where several of the females would lay in the same nest. One time there were 18 eggs in a nest box. Every time the broody would get out to eat, drink and poop another female would get in the nest box and lay an egg. I did take the eggs out and put them in an incubator.

A broody will lay several eggs and may not sit on them all of the time at first. After she has layed a few eggs, she will then settle on the nest and incubate. When incubation starts in earnest with the heat from the broody, this will trigger the eggs to start to develop so they pretty much all hatch within hours of each other

 

[JeepersCheepers]

Do not have that problem. No rooster. Hens that sit get new chicks at night after the hen has sat for two weeks. Instant mama.