The little things when getting a tragedy-stricken broody to adopt chicks...

[SoCalClucker]

Thank you so much, ridgerunner and all others, for all the advice! I'm a no-no sense kind of person but of course the thought of losing all the chicks or causing suffering is enough to strike fear into me and make me go a little crazy I so appreciate you more experienced chickenkeepers bringing me back to common sense.

Abda the broody has been such an incredibly doting mother that I get the gut feeling she will do well with her chicks... Though it's just a gut feeling. Seems like the big question now is whether to offer the day-olds some water and warmth while we wait for dark, or just march them straightaway out to Mommy, introduce them, and hope her maternal instincts kick in. Hmm. Any other opinions or experiences?

A picture of Abda sitting in her new nest in a private suite... sorry for the horrible picture, did not want to disturb Her Highness...

 

[lazy gardener]

I would feed AND water, including Poultry Nutri Drench the chicks before giving them to Mama. Will her eggs have hatched by then? If her eggs have hatched, and the chicks are about the same age, your chances of success are greater. But, it all depends on the broody. I had one hen who was in love with the idea of setting eggs, but she freaked out and abandoned the nest when the chicks started hatching.

 

[SoCalClucker]

Hi Lazy Gardener,
Thank you for the advice! So you don't think that feeding and watering the chicks will interfere with chick/hen bonding at all? I'm sure every cell in my body will want to do it, not to mention handle them and snuggle them and take millions of pictures, but I do want to do whatever I can to make sure that they end up raised by Abda and not me.

Anyone else have stories of getting chicks adopted? I have been reading BYC archives like crazy...

 

[lazy gardener]

I base my advice on my recent experience with shipped chicks. They had a rough shipment, and were in transit longer than they should have been. When I opened the box, they were all alive, but there were a couple of them who were not doing well. 2 of them ended up dying, and I'm positive it was due to shipping stress. I fed them, and provided water that was mixed with Poultry Nutri Drench. They ate and ate and ate, and drank and drank and drank. It took them forever to satisfy those needs before they would even consider going under their MHP to warm up.

If you put them under the broody hen, and she is still in "newly hatched chick" mode, she may not bring them off the nest right away to feed them. When a broody hatches eggs, she may keep the babies in the nest a couple of DAYS to allow any late eggs to hatch.

 

[SoCalClucker]

Oh my goodness, what a sad story :-( So sorry for your losses, but congratulations on the healthy chicks! I think you make a great point. The chicks are supposed to hatch on Monday day, ship overnight, and arrive on Tuesday. Our weather has been on the warm side -- maybe low 90s or so -- which could work for or against them. I will definitely be offering them water at least, and have Nutri-Drench to perk them up a bit, but it sounds like it is all about their condition upon arrival. Did you hold them in a brooder until tucking them under the broody that night, or go ahead and put them in the nest as soon as they seemed ready, even if it was still daylight?