I have a banty hen that went broody about 2 weeks ago. Picked up some 2 day old chicks yesterday and tried to slip two of them under her last night. All went well until this morning. I was advised to watch her carefully, so at first light i took up a vigil beside the nest box. All went well - she was doing her deep cluck and keeping them covered - until little ones decided it was time for breakfast. As soon as they were out from under her she would peck at them hard. I ushered them back under her, and she was fine with that, but again, when they came out, she was back to pecking at them. Do I give up on this foster? This is NOT how it went with my little silky hen (now gone; victim of raccoon attack) She would mother anything i put under here - even two week old chicks when she wasn't broody!! I don't have the stomach to watch this banty peck at the little ones too much, but I want to give her a chance if this is a normal part of the fostering process. Anyone with experience fostering, Please advise!
It is frustrating isn't it!? If you have tried several times then I would say you did well. Look's like this momma just isn't going to cooperate! Are her eggs fertile? You might be able to try again when her babies hatch.
I have like NO experience with this as I just had my first hen hatch out chicks less than a week ago. She only hathed 5 so I got her 5 fosters. I added them at night and monitored the next morning. They were about 3 days old, so I knew they needed to eat and the hatchlings were 2 days and hadn't really come out yet. I took the fosters out from under her and showed them the food and water just off of the nest. They ate, drank and went back over to mom. There was a little bit of pecking, nothing bad. I went ahead and stuck the babies back under her again and they tucked right in. I haven't had any other problems. If you are going to be home and can monitor them maybe try leaving them? If not, remove them and maybe try again tomorrow. Sorry, again, I don't have experience with this. Good luck.
When chicks first hatch the mama stays in the nest for 2-3 days so that the babies can dry off and other eggs can hatch. It sounds like she is just a little confused because these babies aren't acting the way newly hatched chicks would. I put week old chicks under my broody yesterday and she was pecking them when they got out from under her too. To help with that I put the food and water right next to the nest so the chicks didn't have to go far to eat and upset mama and it seems to be helping. She's still pecking at them a little bit but not too hard. I would give your new mama a little longer to get everything sorted out. Good luck!
