Silkie adoption?

Here is one of the slim cases.... this broody hen adopted 14, 4 week old chicks, this was her day 1.
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These were feed store chicks I bonded with a diff broody, the little blue wyandottes, were 5 days old, the taller chick a barred rock was 2 weeks old, later I gave her a couple more new hatched chicks, she took everyone, so it just depends on the hen.
 
The chick may not bond to her. I lost 2 chicks last year because they didn’t bond with a broody. They were 2 & 3 days old.

Yeah it was really sad. I kept putting them under her and she was happy but they would take off running as soon as I walked away. I put them under her every night. One morning I went out and there was only 1 chick under her. I found it on the other side of the coop. Same thing happened the next day with the other one.

I want to clarify that my chicks passed when they were 2 and 3 days old. The mother hatched them but the chicks didn’t bond to her. These were not given to her at 2-3 days old. I have tried it before and it not work out.

I have had hens decide to adopt older chicks that I brooded inside. And I’ve had them raise chicks while sitting on another batch of eggs. You just can’t predict how things will go. Broodies are not created equal.
 
Will a silkie raise a chick that is a couple of weeks old?
It really depends on the hen. If she already has chicks she might accept some that are older. I've had several chicken hens that would accept older chicks, ducklings, peachicks, and keets, so it's not that rare. When I give older chicks to a brooch I usually do it at night then and keep a close eye on them through the night and into the morning.
 
Is there actually all that much difference between newly hatched chicks and newly hatched ducks, as far as a hen would be able to tell? They make slightly different noises, but she might not notice, and I really doubt she'd notice the bills or webbed feet.
 

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