Newbie questions about slipping chicks under a broody- PICTURE ADDED.

[FingerLakesChick]

Quote:
Thank you!!!

 

[Chick-N-Antics]

Greetings
I hope you dont mind me popping a couple extra questions in on this thread, but it seems that everyone is quite active on this thread at the moment.
We where hoping to do see the same thing with our chicks, put them under a broody hen, but our broody girl evelina stopped being broody about a week before our new batch of chicks showed up. Our chicks are almost a week old now (saturday or sunday, we got them on sunday), and evelina is showing sighns of going broody again (ive been catching her in the nest box at night acting all broody).
Our questions are how long does a hen have to be broody for before theyll take chicks, btw i think this will be the fourth time in about 6 months that shes gone broody she is a one year old buff orpington,. Are the chicks already too old for her to take. And about how many chicks can a single hen handle? We have 17 that we want to introduce to the flock, which currently numbers 11, and ten more chicks that we are thinking of keeping seperate from the flock
from antics of chick-n-antics

 

[akanalynnn]

UPDATE:
I took my girl inside in a tupperware container and put the peeping chicks in their box next to her. She became all excited when she heard them...I was going to wait til she was asleep (I separated her so the big blue orp wouldn't trample them) but she seemed so excited! I put them in with her after about 15 minutes and she just beak-scooted their little butts right underneath her and started clucking contentedly, obviously quite proud of herself.

I'm getting a copper/black marans tomorrow to stick in, but the two that I already grafted are a black tailed white japanese bantam and a sicilian buttercup...I didn't realize they are terrible layers though so I might trade it out for another one... I'm pretty sure my broody silkie would take ducklings or kittens without even stopping to think. She's so funny

 

[FingerLakesChick]

Hello Chick N Antics - I hope this is a learning for experience for anyone trying to do this, so you are most welcome to ask any questions. Maybe your questions will even be beneficial to me.

I wish I had answers for you, hopefully someone will chime in? There couldn't be a better place to get information than this website and from all of these great people.

Akanalynnn - CONGRATULATIONS! And you did this before dark? Hmmm... I'm wondering about that now?????

Harriet did very well last night - she got out for a while and ate, drank, stretched her legs and poo'd. Then she went right back in the new area! Such a good girl - and so smart! She did the same thing this morning too. While she was off the nest I switched out those eggs for golf balls (store bought egg shells are so weak compared to home grown ones and I was afraid another one would get broken - and eww!!)

The babies are doing well - all SEVEN of them, instead of five?? Hmmm... I just could NOT help myself!

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Personally, I would go with letting them loose after a day or two, because this is when a Mama usually takes her chicks out of the nest and introduces them to the flock. It's like putting them under her, you will know pretty quickly whether it is going to be a problem or not, it won't take the whole weekend to find out. I just think the closer we can keep things to how chickens handle stuff in the wild, the better off they all are. JMHO.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I keep reading that it is best to introduce them at 1 to 3 days old. Is Evelina on the nest all day, too, or only at night? If she is there basically 24/7, you could try putting the chicks near her but in a box and see how she responds to the peeping sounds, as another poster here spoke of. Worked for her.

I suspect it doesn't matter a lot how long they have been broody, but can't recall reading about this. My broody stayed broody well over two months -- not much of a clock in there. Heck, when I call them for treats from across the yard, they stop running partway, like they forgot where they were going, and I have to repeat it two or three times. I don't think they can count very well! But they are all different, and in the end, we just have to see how any particular hen is going to do, and go from there.

They usually lay for about a week then set, so much more than 8 or so chicks would not be their usual way of doing things.

 

[FingerLakesChick]

Good thing we have a long weekend ahead. I'll let Momma take the lead on Monday if all goes well tonight and tomorrow.

I should make chick grit available soon shouldn't I?

How worried should I be about my other hens injuring any of these chicks?

 

[Judy]

BTW, there is another thread going here on the same subject, in case someone here missed it somehow:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=185601

 

[Ridgerunner]

I fully agree with ddawn.

I should make chick grit available soon shouldn't I?

If they have access to the ground, they will find their own grit, especially if the ground is the least bit sandy or rocky. If they are on bedding where they cannot get to the ground, you should be supply grit. With them loose with mama, there is no telling what they will find to eat.

How worried should I be about my other hens injuring any of these chicks

You are dealing with living animals so I can't say for sure one way or the other. Chickens have been raising chicks with the flock for centuries. Most of the time, it is not a problem, but it can happen. As to how worried, I'd say "not very". But be aware there could be a problem and observe. If mama has to reprimand a chicken for bothering her babies, do not interfere. Mama needs to teach a lesson. It is just part of flock dynamics.

 

[FingerLakesChick]

Thank you Ridgerunner.