- Jun 15, 2014
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So i have been coming to Backyard Chickens for years, getting tons of information and learning a lot but never posting. Having learned much over the years by trial and error, being inventive and of course from here I've added a few tricks to my chick raising tool belt and thought i would share one of them that I've never seen before.
So here is the situation. You have a baby chick or 2 or how ever many.... Your brood hen will not adopt them, and you want the chick to be outside because his life will be better than in a brooder or need it to be for whatever reason. I've done this for 3 years in a row now with great success every time.
I use a young Cornish Cross as a surrogate sister. I say sister because lets face it, they will not ever be a mother. But they are big, they are slow, and they are usually gentle personalities. Although individuals will vary, most Cornish cross's will never peck at or injure a baby chick due to this being bred into them for being housed in close quarters. So what you basically have is a big warm feathery body for the baby chic to bond with and stay warm with at night. Cornish's lay down a lot much like a brood hen, they don't move too fast. And they are usually cool with whatever or whom ever is climbing under and over them. Chicks don't really need much more than that if you are keeping them in a pen. The Sister will teach them to eat, drink and be lazy, will let the chick snuggle under its wing at night, and give the chick the same psychological feeling of having a momma there.
This is a 3 week old Sebright Chick with her Big Sister Cornish Cross that was born on Easter. The will stay together until the Sebright is old enough to socialize with the flock.
Anyone else ever try this?
So here is the situation. You have a baby chick or 2 or how ever many.... Your brood hen will not adopt them, and you want the chick to be outside because his life will be better than in a brooder or need it to be for whatever reason. I've done this for 3 years in a row now with great success every time.
I use a young Cornish Cross as a surrogate sister. I say sister because lets face it, they will not ever be a mother. But they are big, they are slow, and they are usually gentle personalities. Although individuals will vary, most Cornish cross's will never peck at or injure a baby chick due to this being bred into them for being housed in close quarters. So what you basically have is a big warm feathery body for the baby chic to bond with and stay warm with at night. Cornish's lay down a lot much like a brood hen, they don't move too fast. And they are usually cool with whatever or whom ever is climbing under and over them. Chicks don't really need much more than that if you are keeping them in a pen. The Sister will teach them to eat, drink and be lazy, will let the chick snuggle under its wing at night, and give the chick the same psychological feeling of having a momma there.
This is a 3 week old Sebright Chick with her Big Sister Cornish Cross that was born on Easter. The will stay together until the Sebright is old enough to socialize with the flock.
Anyone else ever try this?
