Sneaking baby chicks under broody hen

[gracielove]

Hello all! I am thinking about trying to sneak a few chicks under one of my hens. I’m not sure if she’s broody though and I am wondering how long to wait before I put them under her.

She has been sitting in the nest on a few eggs that initially I forgot to pick up for about 48 hours and now I have left in there to see if she will keep sitting on them. But she leaves the nest during the day, and is only sleeping in there at night? Is she broody enough to try this? Should I wait a bit?

Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

You have to make sure you put them in when her eggs would have hatched. They can tell these things and won’t accept chicks of they’re too early.

 

[gracielove]

You have to make sure you put them in when her eggs would have hatched. They can tell these things and won’t accept chicks of they’re too early.

Do you think she’s broody if she’s not in there all the time?

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

Maybe not. Then again, they do have to eat and drink. I’d say the best way to tell is if she’s sleeping on it.

 

[gracielove]

Maybe not. Then again, they do have to eat and drink. I’d say the best way to tell is if she’s sleeping on it.

Thanks so much!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

If she's only on nest at night she's not broody. Might be thinking about it, or she might just be sleeping in the nest box.

You'd need to see more signs before calling her broody, i.e. sitting during the day with short breaks to eat or poop, fluffing up or flattening down when you reach into the nest box, making a low ticking sound, ripping feathers off her belly in order to warm eggs.

She'd need to sit around 21 days I believe for "hatch time" at which point you could try sneaking chicks underneath her.

 

[gracielove]

If she's only on nest at night she's not broody. Might be thinking about it, or she might just be sleeping in the nest box.

You'd need to see more signs before calling her broody, i.e. sitting during the day with short breaks to eat or poop, fluffing up or flattening down when you reach into the nest box, making a low ticking sound, ripping feathers off her belly in order to warm eggs.

She'd need to sit around 21 days I believe for "hatch time" at which point you could try sneaking chicks underneath her.

Thank you. I will wait to see if there are more signs.

 

[Noelani]

This questions is along the same lines as gracilove's, except my question has to do with feral chickens. One of the many feral chickens in our neighborhood came into my yard with 3 very new chicks yesterday. Early evening they were all separated from the mom and each other. I could not see the mom trying to round them up. After dark I could still here two of them peeping in my yard under some bushes. I was able to locate one and brought it in the house. It was raining and cooling down quickly. I do have chickens in my back yard, but no broody hens right now. But I do have 2 broody feral hens who are sitting on a nest and two fake eggs under my porch.

Any ideas if I could slip this one day old chick in their nest? I would love to put the chick under them, but being feral, they run when I get close and come back as soon as I leave. I was thinking of taping the chick in a duck egg shell and put it in the nest with enough wiggle room for it to "re-hatch" so it can have a chicken mom.

Does anyone think this will work?

 

[aart]

Thank you. I will wait to see if there are more signs.

These are my got to broody signs:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
Are there feathers in the nest, and missing from her breast/belly?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

Broody should be setting at least 2 weeks and chicks need to be as young as possible(1 day old are best) before trying to graft chicks to a broody hen.

Any ideas if I could slip this one day old chick in their nest? I would love to put the chick under them, but being feral, they run when I get close and come back as soon as I leave. I was thinking of taping the chick in a duck egg shell and put it in the nest with enough wiggle room for it to "re-hatch" so it can have a chicken mom.

Does anyone think this will work?

Why would you want to do that?
Did you hatch out a single and can't get any other day olds for company?
I guess you could try but...sounds risky...are the feral chicks day olds too?
I would not tape the chick into a shell.

 

[Noelani]

I didn't hatch the chick myself. It was the only one left of 3 chicks a feral chicken brought into my yard. The mother had abandoned them and I could only catch one before it got too cold and wet for them. The "re-hatching" idea was terrible, it was early this morning when I wrote it and I didn't get much sleep.

I have an idea to see if one of my hens in my chicken yard wants to accept this chick. I just think it is better for it to have a chicken mom. Either that or find someone with chicks they are raising so it will have chick siblings.