To thoes who gave their broodys chicks to adopt...

[silkiechicken]

So I've given broodys chicks to adopt, but they all got chicks after they sat at least their 3 weeks of normal sitting. Well, I thought I had escaped from turkey the broody hen this year but, lo and behold... she went broody again... just 2 months later than last year.... Iroinically, I'll have baby chicks hatching sunday... I saw someone say they successfully grafted on chicks to a hen who sat for 10 days... but for those who have grafted chicks, how many days was your girl broody before you did it?

 

[silkiebeginer]

I wanted to put my bator babies in the pen with my mama hen and her babies. But she would have none of it. She was trying to peck the bator babies. they were hatched the same day so i figured they would be safe in there. But....i was wrong. So although i have no answers for you, I will be watching for answers given to you for my own future refference,lol. Hope you don't mind. Its so hard being new at this chicken stuff. but i am learning.
I then tried to see if my other hen would adopt them, but no she was not into it either. Oh-Well. It is warm enough even at nights now so in the next day or 2 i will be putting them in their own pen.

Good Luck, Jennifer

 

[silkiechicken]

Oh, if you're trying to graft new babies to a mom who already has them, you can usually trick them. You just have to pop the babies under her at night when they are all asleep and when she wakes up she will most likely take them as hers. They cant count but can see that a stranger is leaving these little peeping things on the ground that might her peeping things. All hens are different though so it still may not work. Good luck if you try again though.

 

[tiffanyh]

I slid babies under one broody hen that was 10 days on the nest. She had no complaints what so ever. My other one was on for 2.5 week before I gave her chicks. I had one hatch some fertile eggs that I moved from the incubator underneath her when she was about 1 week/10 days in (it was the same hen as the previous time).

Each time, I got up early am and did it, so that I could check on them and watch was they came out of their morning coma. I guess it really depends on the hen, if she is a good momma, she will probably do fine if she is "in the mood".

 

[kcfuerst]

What do you do with a broody gal to whom you have given a fertile egg to sit upon.... and then when she leaves the nest momentarily to eat or poo, someone else enters the nest to lay an egg.... then miss broody goes and sits on a different nest and I have to place the egg back under her.

Question is, will this egg ever hatch?

 

[justusnak]

I recently had a momma hatch 3 of her 10 eggs. Then she just politely got off the nest, and kicked the remaining eggs all over the place. BAD GIRL!! So, I put them in the bator. As they hatched....once they were dry and fluffy, I went to the hen.....stole her babies...and put them back after a min or 2 with the new hatched baby. Worked great! She now has 5 babies, and 3 more to go in the bator! IF they hatch.

 

[CarriBrown]

After Tina hatched four of her own, I gave her five Buttercup babies. She was sitting with her babies, and I just put the new babies in there. She called them over to her and under her wing they went!
I think Tina is an exeptional mother, though.

 

[silkiechicken]

If you have multiple hens laying and a broody who is insitant on sitting, mark the eggs and keep those under her. As long as it doesn't sit out cold too many times it should hatch.