Odd Question!!!! Please answer

[bald k9]

I am not ready to go thru the day old chick stage again [mess,time,seperate foods,etc, So I was wondering if I could place a couple day old chicks under one of my broody hens after she sets on the eggs for a while ,would that work or would it harm the chicks thanks for the help!

 

[Gaelio]

I've done this many times and it works great. If the hen is broody she will usually accept the chicks. To distract her, put some really tasty food in front of her and slip the chicks under her while she's eating. Then you need to watch carefully for a while to be sure she doesn't knock them out of the nest. Even if she seems worried and upset at first, she will often still accept them.

 

[Blue_Myst]

I've never done it myself. But I believe I've heard that it is possible--you just have to make sure that the broody hen has been setting on her eggs long enough to "hatch" chicks. I know it sounds confusing, but it seems like the hens know when they're supposed to have chicks beneath them. If the hen's just been setting four days and suddenly has chicks beneath her, she may know that something is odd.

You know your hen better than we do. If you think she's more on the motherly side than the aggressive "don't touch me" side, I'd say go for it!

Hopefully someone will come along who has actually done it before and can give you better advice. Good luck!

 

[bald k9]

Quote:
I was just going to ask how long i should wait Thanks! Glad to hear it will work i will try it with my marans, thanks for the info

 

[Blue_Myst]

Quote:
I was just going to ask how long i should wait Thanks! Glad to hear it will work i will try it with my marans, thanks for the info

No problem! There will be pictures, right?

 

[bald k9]

But of Course pics!!! I had a marans just break out of broody next one that goes broody i will try it !

 

[fshinggrl]

Good Luck!