raising chicks using a foster silkie mom

[sydney13]

ok so heres my plan for getting chickens. First ill buy buy a silkie from a asian live poultry market because rescuing a silkie seems better then buying one from a breeder. Then once she is settled in to her new coop i will let her sit on some not fertile eggs to make her broody. Then i get 5 chicks from a hatchery and have her raise them.
are their any things that could go wrong that i should know about, like if she doesn't except the new chicks?
What will happen when the chicks get older, will she start to be aggressive to them to show shes not their mother any more or will they all will together with no problem? If the chicks have a mother to keep them warm will the still need a heat lamp (im getting them in april)? And is their a good chance that one of them will die or do you think they all will survive? What are the chances that i will find a dead chicks in the mail when they arrive?

 

[Southernbelle]

General advice about broodies:
It's true that Silkies are the broodiest little chickens, so good choice! However, broodiness is hormonal and no amount of eggs left in the nest will make her go broody. My Silkies usually lay for about a month or so (laying their "clutch" of eggs) then when they've laid enough eggs, their little pea brain tells them it's time to hatch chicks, so they go broody. Nothing makes them go broody - it's highly individual to the hen.

If you want to introduce hatchery chicks, that is certainly possible. I've fostered chicks on a Silkie before. I would make sure she's been broody for about 3 weeks before you give her chicks, so it imitates the amount of time it would take to hatch eggs. Give her some fake eggs to sit on while you're waiting for chicks. Or instead of hatchery chicks, consider getting her some fertile eggs.

She'll raise the chicks anywhere from 4 weeks up to forever. You won't need an additional heat lamp; mama hen is all they need. She could cover 5 chicks easily; if you were getting 30, then yes, she'd need some help keeping that many warm.


A lot of reasons why your plan won't really work:
1. Getting just one Silkie from the market would probably freak her out; they like to be in a flock.
2. A huge change like moving to a new environment (leaving her old home, going to scary market, getting used to your home) would rock her system for a while. It would take a few weeks for her to get comfortable and start laying, then she'd need to lay her clutch before going broody.
3. She may even carry some disease (Mareks, lice, CRD, etc) that she could pass onto your chicks.
4. If you're getting chicks next month; I don't think she'll be broody long enough to accept the chicks.
5. Silkie's are hard to sex; unless you know what you're looking for, you might accidently bring home a roo.

 

[JP101010]

I totally agree with Southernbelle's great advice. My Broody Silkie Hen , Miesha , Is doing great with her 3 fosters , now a few weeks old, but she had trouble transitioning from an infertile egg to <surprise> 3 (2 day old) chicks. The introduction didnt go as great as i planned , and it was my mistake for not researching on BYC and just relying on the lady in the pet stores information >so i did it during the day with a few day old chicks and at first she saw them as a threat , pecked the bantam cochin fuzzbutt , but as soon as i snuck them under her they were , i guess , out of sight out of mind. with every chirp she would stare in obvious confusion at her rear end. after just one night of having a chick under her she was in love. so now i know, as i have read in past threads , that 1 day old chicks are best, sneaking them under her at night is best ( i left the egg there for a few days also so that she didnt give up the broody behavior) i have also read about how some very broody hens will actually dehydrate or starve if left to do so. which was my concern for my miesha. the vet told us to take her out at least once a day near food and water for just a few minutes, which is also when she had the chance to take a massive BM ( they will hold it in an effort to maintain a clean nest)...
please let me know how you make out with whatever you decide to do
and great idea about "adopting" a chicken

JP