Raising day olds with two broodys?

[Darceyhs]

Hello, we have raised chicks before but we are thinking about raising day olds with two Rhode Island Reds. They are both in the nest next to each other other and and we think we can put a few day olds under each of them. We are just wondering if this will put the chicks in danger at all? has anyone had experience with this?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hello, we have raised chicks before but we are thinking about raising day olds with two Rhode Island Reds. They are both in the nest next to each other other and and we think we can put a few day olds under each of them. We are just wondering if this will put the chicks in danger at all? has anyone had experience with this?

What are you going to do when both you hens get a bill hold on each other and go to flogging one another like there's no tomorrow? A very good or rather a very bad way to lose small chicks in my opinion.
Your dealing with chickens, not saints or nuns.

 

[Clems Girls]

Hi

From my experience it really depends on what bread of the chook/s that are broody I am not quite sure about RI Reds but breeds such as buff orphingtons and silkies have been known to adopt other hens chicks whilst being broody so u might have a chance with ur reds.

You could try looking in the learning centre on rAising babies or alternatively post a thread asking about RI Reds bloodiness and maternal tendancies in the chicken bread forum.

 

[Kev]

Yeah it depends on how well the hens get along. Some hens will raise chicks with another hen. Some will not.

However a not so uncommon problem especially with chicks of mixed colors/appearance is for one or both hens eventually taking a dislike for some mysterious reason to one or more chicks and either try to keep it away or try to kill it. It seems she has eventually decided this particular chick is not "hers" or something like that. Yet this is rare with a single hen, even if her chicks are all over the place in color.

So... unless you are going to get 25+ chicks, I would just choose one hen to be the mother of all.. especially with a very small number of chicks-3-6.

 

[Darceyhs]

Thanks guys, yeah I thought that could happen. But then again Rhode Island Reds seem to be extremely gentle and these two seem to be very happy together(always walking around together and they always seem to go broody in a pair). They also never seem to peck when broody like some of our other chooks(the Araucana!). If we kept a really good eye on them does anyone think it will work out fine?

 

[Kev]

You sure could try it out.

If they get along that great even as mother hens, all you need to watch out for the possible rejection of a particular chick is all. If that doesn't happen then it will turn out great.

btw when putting chicks under hens that haven't hatched any eggs yet, I prefer to put them under just after dark so both the chick and hen will have the whole night to bond. Normally the bonding process starts before the chicks hatch as they hear and talk to each other before the chick finally hatches. A few hens don't take too kindly to being suddenly surprised out of clear blue with chicks.. especially chicks that might be frightened of them. Some will accept chicks no matter how they are introduced.... but a lot of incubator hatched chicks have varying amounts of fear of this big thing making noises they never heard before and they do not yet know how nice snuggling under her is.. giving them the whole night for this process helps a lot for both hen and chicks.

btw if you are getting say, two different breed/colors of chicks, mix them up when giving to the hens. Don't give all black chicks to one and all yellow chicks to the other.

 

[Darceyhs]

Yeah, thanks very much. We have raised day olds under a broody before and it ws really good fun, it should hopefully be even more fun with two mothers. We will keep a very good eye on them.