Question about giving a broody baby chicks

[Murs]

Hi all,

I had a disappointing hatch.

I was down to one hen and she went broody. Perfect! I got six fertilized eggs and she did a great job sitting. During that time she kicked out two eggs and ate them. That left me with four. On day 21 one egg hatched. Cutest little guy. I waited and waited and today is the end of day 24. No signs of life from the other 3 eggs and momma is not sitting anymore. She is attending to her one baby.

I removed the eggs and I want to give her some baby chicks. I've been researching it but have a couple of questions.

Is it ok to give her baby chicks after she's already been caring for one that she hatched?

How long can I wait? My feed store is getting in 3 day old chicks this Saturday. That means my current baby chick will be 8 days old. Can I still give momma baby chicks on Saturday?

Thanks for your help!

 

[nchls school]

Hi all,

I had a disappointing hatch.

I was down to one hen and she went broody. Perfect! I got six fertilized eggs and she did a great job sitting. During that time she kicked out two eggs and ate them. That left me with four. On day 21 one egg hatched. Cutest little guy. I waited and waited and today is the end of day 24. No signs of life from the other 3 eggs and momma is not sitting anymore. She is attending to her one baby.

I removed the eggs and I want to give her some baby chicks. I've been researching it but have a couple of questions.

Is it ok to give her baby chicks after she's already been caring for one that she hatched? Yes.

How long can I wait? My feed store is getting in 3 day old chicks this Saturday. That means my current baby chick will be 8 days old. Can I still give momma baby chicks on Saturday? That's a five day age difference in the chicks. The best I can say is maybe. The hen may not accept them. I would hesitate doing this unless you have an alternate plan should the hen reject them. When giving a hen chicks already hatched it works better to do this at night when it is dark. Hopefully, in the morning the hen will accept them as hers. Be sure to check on them just before first light in case they are rejected. Good luck.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Murs]

Well, maybe I'll just wait until she goes broody again. At least she got one chick and she is no longer alone.

I don't have a set up for chicks if she was to reject them.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Three days is a long time to wait before trying to graft chicks onto a hen who already has chicks. Do as you wish, you may get her to raise more chicks for you or she may kill any chicks that you give her. Chickens are first and last dumb animals and their world is governed by the natural world, not by your or my druthers. To get a chicken to do anything, the task must be something that the chicken is prepared to do anyway.

 

[Murs]

Three days is a long time to wait before trying to graft chicks onto a hen who already has chicks.  Do as you wish, you may get her to raise more chicks for you or she may kill any chicks that you give her.  Chickens are first and last dumb animals and their world is governed by the natural world, not by your or my druthers.  To get a chicken to do anything, the task must be something that the chicken is prepared to do anyway.

Thats what I was thinking. But I wanted the opinion of more experienced chicken owners so I came here.

I was bummed that out of 6 eggs I only ended up with one chick. We had a heatwave and temps went over 100 so I'm not sure if that's what affected it. The lady I got my eggs from says her hatch rate is normally 95%.

At least I got one chick and my hen is no longer alone.

Thanks for your input

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Beg, borrow, steal, or buy a copy of the little book "A Guide to Better Hatching" by Mike Stricker, and follow its recommendations to the letter. Spring BTW is the best time of year to hatch chicks. Especially follow Mike Stricker's advice on using grass turf in the bottom of your nests that are to be used for incubation purposes.

 

[donrae]

I agree you're going to lose your window to graft chicks. If she were an experienced broody of a super maternal breed like a silkie, with a good history of taking chicks, I might try it. But a first time momma with a single chicklet....I don't think I'd chance it.

I fell your pain, only getting one chick. I just had a dismal hatch on my first batch of eggs that had to travel to me---13 eggs, 9 made it to lockdown, only 3 hatched.

. And I don't even have a broody to raise them, I have to brood them myself!

 

[Murs]

I agree you're going to lose your window to graft chicks. If she were an experienced broody of a super maternal breed like a silkie, with a good history of taking chicks, I might try it. But a first time momma with a single chicklet....I don't think I'd chance it.

I fell your pain, only getting one chick. I just had a dismal hatch on my first batch of eggs that had to travel to me---13 eggs, 9 made it to lockdown, only 3 hatched. . And I don't even have a broody to raise them, I have to brood them myself!

It's so disappointing, isn't it? I'm sorry about your eggs.

I had another broody, my current broody's mamma, that I gave 4 eggs to and all 4 hatched. That was my first time hatching. One chick was killed by another hen right away. I separated them after that. The other three survived but two ended up being roo's. Daisy was my only hen and she is the broody one now. Unfortunately, her momma was attacked by a coyote that jumped my fence.

On the upside it's such a joy watching Daisy with the little one.

 

[Murs]

Beg, borrow, steal, or buy a copy of the little book "A Guide to Better Hatching" by Mike Stricker, and follow its recommendations to the letter.  Spring BTW is the best time of year to hatch chicks.  Especially follow Mike Stricker's advice on using grass turf in the bottom of your nests that are to be used for incubation purposes.

Thank you. I will look for that book.

I agree that Spring would have been much better. I was surprised when Daisy went broody. I had just lost her only companion a few days before and was planning to buy another hen. But when she went broody I decided to get eggs instead. I'm glad at least one hatched. She seems so happy to be taking care of it.