Single Hatched Chick...Put with Momma & Siblings?

Dale River

In the Brooder
Sep 9, 2020
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15
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We had a single chick hatch today after momma hen got off her nest 3 days ago with the 5 chicks she hatched. We took the remaining eggs and put them in the preheated incubator. I thought I’d give it through today to make sure nothing else was viable. One chick hatched today, but so far nothing from the other eggs. “Lucky” isn’t fully fluffed out yet, so I’ve left him in the incubator where he’s stumbling around.

I’m wondering if I should put him under his momma tomorrow night. My concerns are him being able to keep up with the week old chicks. However, he’s by himself, so I’m also concerned about putting him in the brooder for a day or two til he’s more steady on his feet before putting him with momma and siblings. The momma and chicks have their own fenced, netted, protected space outside as well as in the coop.

Any guidance on this one?
 

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How attentive is the mother to the current chicks? If she comes running at the slightest chick distress she may handle a day old well even if her older ones are more mobile. I've had broodies that I definitely would not trust and others I would consider doing this for. I have introduced 2 day old feed store chicks to an attentive hen with 1 week olds and that went fine.

Restricting her space for a few days would also help prevent baby from being left behind while it's most fragile.

I would be inclined to keep it in the brooder until it gets its feet under it. One day might be enough. If you think be needs another day you could even borrow one of her chicks and put it with the little guy as a buddy.

Also, in the future, if you think there's still a viable egg and mom is getting antsy, I have had luck by providing food and water to the babies in the nest box, to get Mom to stay for another day or two on the rest of the eggs. If she senses life in the eggs and isn't getting distressed peeps from the chicks that have hatched, she might be willing to give it a little longer.
 
She accepted some store bought chicks we got to go with the hatched chicks. Why wouldn’t she accept this one?
Because she knows how nany she has. Its like having a set of kids and suddenly uou have an extra. Yoi know its not yours but unlike humans, chixkens wont care for pffspring they dont consider theirs. Bloodlines mean nothing to them.
 
Because she knows how nany she has. Its like having a set of kids and suddenly uou have an extra. Yoi know its not yours but unlike humans, chixkens wont care for pffspring they dont consider theirs. Bloodlines mean nothing to them.
Many hens will absolutely take an extra, or two or three or four! I adopted four chicks to a hen that had six she hatched. Chicknapping works great, steal one of hers, hold on to it until it's chirping madly, and she's upset, then return hers plus a new one. She'll be delighted that the distressed cheeping has stopped, and likely hardly even notice her clutch grew. I have had better luck with introducing chicks that are similarly colored to her existing chicks, this particular broody that I gave four adoptees to refused a fifth that was chipmunk striped, but accepted all four blues (her chicks were shades of black white and gray). She did seem to sense that something was up, but she would survey the chicks, who were all happily eating in front of her, and she accepted the suddenly doubled group. Chickens don't count, though they definitely do form an idea of who is theirs which strengthens over time. And even if they do count, at least some do appear to accept adoptees.
 
How attentive is the mother to the current chicks? If she comes running at the slightest chick distress she may handle a day old well even if her older ones are more mobile. I've had broodies that I definitely would not trust and others I would consider doing this for. I have introduced 2 day old feed store chicks to an attentive hen with 1 week olds and that went fine.

Restricting her space for a few days would also help prevent baby from being left behind while it's most fragile.

I would be inclined to keep it in the brooder until it gets its feet under it. One day might be enough. If you think be needs another day you could even borrow one of her chicks and put it with the little guy as a buddy.

Also, in the future, if you think there's still a viable egg and mom is getting antsy, I have had luck by providing food and water to the babies in the nest box, to get Mom to stay for another day or two on the rest of the eggs. If she senses life in the eggs and isn't getting distressed peeps from the chicks that have hatched, she might be willing to give it a little longer.
Thank you so much for your response. We hadn’t planned to hatch this year, but the momma hen went broody a couple days before we lost our first, sweet hen to a hawk, and I didn’t have the heart to tell my kids we couldn’t let the hen go broody, so we’ve just rolled with it. I’ve learned a lot of what not to do in the process, such as checking to make sure eggs aren’t being added to the clutch throughout the process to ensure hatching occurs within a desirable time period.

The momma hen has been fantastic. She is protective of her chicks and goes to them when they’re too loud or we are making them uncomfortable re-filling the Waterer or feeder. She immediately accepted to store bought chicks we put under her 3 days ago and treats them just like her own.

So you think it may work to put him in the brooder tomorrow and put him under the momma hen tomorrow night?
 
Many hens will absolutely take an extra, or two or three or four! I adopted four chicks to a hen that had six she hatched. Chicknapping works great, steal one of hers, hold on to it until it's chirping madly, and she's upset, then return hers plus a new one. She'll be delighted that the distressed cheeping has stopped, and likely hardly even notice her clutch grew. I have had better luck with introducing chicks that are similarly colored to her existing chicks, this particular broody that I gave four adoptees to refused a fifth that was chipmunk striped, but accepted all four blues (her chicks were shades of black white and gray). She did seem to sense that something was up, but she would survey the chicks, who were all happily eating in front of her, and she accepted the suddenly doubled group. Chickens don't count, though they definitely do form an idea of who is theirs which strengthens over time. And even if they do count, at least some do appear to accept adoptees.
But timing matters. That's what I'm trying to say. I foster chicks all the time on hens but they're all given before the first is older than 2 days. Once she's off the nest and moving with them it's too late most of the time
 
But timing matters. That's what I'm trying to say. I foster chicks all the time on hens but they're all given before the first is older than 2 days. Once she's off the nest and moving with them it's too late most of the time
Agreed it definitely does matter, I guess I would extend that period to the first week though? Granted, my broodies have a smaller run and don't free range, so they aren't going very far to start with.
 

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