Trying to convince mom to let broody hen hatch chicks...

[san415]

only have a minute, I need to leave for work, but why not (if and when she does go broody) let the hen sit on infertile eggs and then get a couple of Pullet chicks that are only a few days old, and let her raise those? then you wont have to worry about roosters. Its some what easy to slip them under the hen at night AFTER she has sat on eggs for about the 21 days.

 

[chicks47]

let the hen sit on infertile eggs and then get a couple of Pullet chicks that are only a few days old, and let her raise those? then you wont have to worry about roosters. Its some what easy to slip them under the hen at night AFTER she has sat on eggs for about the 21 days.

I have an orphington that is broody for her second time in the past couple months. Last time we broke her, she just started laying eggs again.. few weeks later here she is again. She is sitting on nothing. SOmeone told us last time to get some baby chicks and slip them under her at night. So since this has happened again and we do want to add to our flock we would like to consider this.
Have you done this? I have been searching for a while here to get some good info about doing this.

So - let her sit for about 21 days then slip some one day old chicks under her at night is that the approach?
Do I need to actually slip some eggs under her? Or some fake eggs? She thinks she has something right now I guess.
What about feed for the babies. We have layer feed in the coop. Would we want to supply some grower feed somewhere?
Our chicks typically free range, but we have confinement issues right now so they are not getting out as much as they used to. (Hoping to get that rectified asap). We also have two other hens with this one. Our coop is 4x5 w/ three nest boxes. So the others have plenty of room. Will they be much of an issue? I have been told that our surrogate mother would protect the babies pretty well.
Also, how many would you suggest putting under her. We are really wanting to add only 2 or 3 to the flock. (We used to have 5 hens and lost 2 to a coon this winter

)


That all being said: today I just discovered that we have mites in the coop. So I need to get that taken care of before we can put any babies in there. I am hoping that we can clean up and keep our girl broody. If we miss this window I guess we'll try again next time.

Right now our local feed store brings in 1 day chicks this week and once more in two weeks. So I am thinking that on the 22nd would be perfect and that would be right around 21 days for her too.

Okay - so anyone who has actually tried this I appreciate any info. I am very excited if this will all work out and I don't have to raise babies in my dining room!
Thank you​