Should I move my broody hen?

[courtneyytags]

So I had a broody feral hen that kept going broody and I eventually ended up just letting her hatch her eggs. She hatched her first one today and it is so beautiful. I just let her hatch them in the egg hutch but I’m not sure if I should be separating her and her eggs from the rest of the flock (my Wyandotte’s can be aggressive and my other feral broody hen has tried to peck at my chick yesterday).
I also have a feral chick (only a few days old) that was abandoned in my neighbor’s backyard and I was hoping she’d adopt it but she still seems very aggressive. I’m trying to see if I could sneak this one into the group while she’s not looking.
Could I maybe move her, her eggs, and her baby inside with the other chick? I’m thinking move the eggs and the other baby while she’s foraging for food and then bring her inside afterwards.

EDIT: So, it’s pitch black in Hawaii and I tried to move the abandoned chick into the nest and the mama tried to attack. I think she recognizes the sound of me opening the latch while collecting the eggs. My next move will be to try to move the eggs, mama, and baby into a hatching crate with the orphan.

 

[Jenessa_09]

Leave the babies with her, try to sneak the baby in at night

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Are all the eggs due to hatch now? The problem with putting an older chick in with eggs is, if she adopts the chick, she may abandon the nest and eggs as she takes the chick out and about. Also, if the orphan is several days older than the eggs as they hatch, it could harm the new hatchlings. Hopefully there is not a significant age difference between your hatchlings and the orphan.

If you do decide to put the orphaned chick in with the hen, the best time to do it is at night. Good luck, whatever you decide.

 

[Chookchicken]

Leave the babies with her, try to sneak the baby in at night

This is how I got my mother hen to accept more chicks. It can go well but it can also go really bad. I hope it goes well for you, if you chose to do it.

 

[Jenessa_09]

This is how I got my mother hen to accept more chicks. It can go well but it can also go really bad. I hope it goes well for you, if you chose to do it.

Yeah didn’t work for me last year, but that’s because they had a talk week difference in age. Hopefully it works

 

[Chookchicken]

Yeah didn’t work for me last year, but that’s because they had a talk week difference in age. Hopefully it works

I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you last year. Mine was already a mother of a 1 month old chick. Luckily she accepted them and raised 1 day old chicks at the same time as a 1 month old chick. I was extremely lucky. She did have a co-parent which might have helped. But I still feel extremely lucky it worked.

 

[courtneyytags]

Are all the eggs due to hatch now? The problem with putting an older chick in with eggs is, if she adopts the chick, she may abandon the nest and eggs as she takes the chick out and about. Also, if the orphan is several days older than the eggs as they hatch, it could harm the new hatchlings. Hopefully there is not a significant age difference between your hatchlings and the orphan.

If you do decide to put the orphaned chick in with the hen, the best time to do it is at night. Good luck, whatever you decide.

All of the eggs were laid around similar times, I last candled the eggs two days ago and they all vary. A few will hatch within this week and a few within a couple of weeks (my other broody feral hen laid fertile eggs that all got stolen) Like I said, the first chick hatched today and I already have an abandoned one from the local feral chickens. It’s just a few days old, I’ll attach a picture.
Also, my domesticated hens lay their eggs in the same box since my broody hens use the same egg hutch. I tried to put fake eggs in the other boxes to convince my bigger hens to lay in them and not bother the feral hens. Didn’t work... they only used the other box once before the younger feral hen stole all the fake eggs and started to “incubate” them.

 

[neo71665]

I have a hatching cage, when I get a broody I move momma and the eggs to it. I leave her in my covered run in the cage so the rest of the a-holes can watch. Once the chicks start getting feathers and momma has weened them I let a few go at a time and watch. So far it's worked pretty well.

 

[courtneyytags]

I have a hatching cage, when I get a broody I move momma and the eggs to it. I leave her in my covered run in the cage so the rest of the a-holes can watch. Once the chicks start getting feathers and momma has weened them I let a few go at a time and watch. So far it's worked pretty well.

That’ll be my next move since she’s tried to attack the orphan. I’m going to try to do it while she’s not looking so she thinks the orphan is one of her babies.