Three hen & a baby

[OzarkEgghead]

Ok, so it's actually one hen & 5-10 chicks. I just couldn't resist playing off the old "Three Men & a Baby" movie title.

Anyway...

After the losses I incurred in 2019 due to predation, I swore I wasn't gonna have chickens any longer...just too hard seeing the mangled carcasses of my beautiful girls scattered all over.

Well, that lasted right up until I got my Chick Days flyer with my last order of horse & dog feed. Now, thinking of life without my hens & fresh eggs just sounds downright unlivable!

I've settled on getting 5 Speckled Sussex chicks & considering getting another 5 Black Laced Silver Wyandotte. The one lonely hen that survived last year's attacks is a 5 yr old Black Australorp.

My questions are:

1) Do you think I could safely introduce the 3 day old Sussex chicks directly to my 5 yr old hen & have her brood them or are chances high that she'll kill or neglect them?

2) If I can let her brood them, do I still need to provide them with a heat lamp? I would be getting them March 24th (avg. low temp 32/59 avg high) or I can delay until April 24th (avg. low temp 42/69 high).

3) Would 1 hen be able to brood as many as 10 chicks if I opted to get the BLS Wyandottes, too?

Thanks so much for the advice!

 

[courtsmarans]

my initial thought is to just keep them in a brooder. I feel that this way there are fewer chances of your hen killing them (on purpose or accident), or not being able to keep all 10 warm enough and them dying. I keep all of mine in a brooder, this way i can tell if one chick is getting bullied, not eating well, etc.

 

[SueT]

Unless your hen is broody, she will not accept chicks. Does she go broody? After 5 yrs, if the answer is no, I think the chances are nil. Brood them yourself and introduce them as flockmates in a see-no-touch setup. Perhaps you can even set up the brooder where she can watch them.
IF she is in the habit of going broody, you have to wait until she is, before introducing chicks. Let her stay broody for at least 2 weeks for the best chance. Then, IF she accepts them, yes she can keep them warm, 10 should be fine. Always be prepared to brood them yourself just in case the adoption fails.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If a hen is broody she will take care of them if she imprints on them and they imprint on her. It is a great way to go. That usually only works if they are very young, like two or three days at most plus she has been broody for a while. In any other circumstances the chances that she will kill them or neglect them are extremely high. So high you are practically assured of disaster.

To me the only responsible plan is to brood them yourself and integrate them later.