When to give up on broody hen?

[JHaller]

I'm concerned about a broody hen. This is only my second time managing a broody, and she's been "in the mood" for about two weeks. I decided to go ahead and put some hatchery chicks under her, but it is not working out as easily as my previous broody hen.

When I brought the chicks home, I played with them, talked to them, took pictures, etc. for couple hours. I put them under the broody about an hour and a half before dark. The broody was not happy to see them at all. She pecked at them and they scampered out of the nest.

It's very hot outside (still over 90 deg F at midnight) so I'm not worried too much about them getting chilled. But I've gone out every hour or so to check on them and I find one or two of the four chicks is in the corner of the nest or outside the nest and the mama is pecking at them. I don't see any injuries...yet.

I've been putting the chicks back under her tail, and she pecks at my hand. I scratch her back, talk to her, pet her, but she still maintains her "indignation pose" with tail feathers spread like a turkey. When I close the door, I usually hear squealing peeps and find one or two chicks crawling out from under mama, and getting pecked or running away.

I'll check them once more before morning, but they have to fend for themselves for a few hours. I understand they are at risk.

My questions are:
--In the morning, if Mama hasn't surrendered, should I continue to keep them together? If there are injuries, I will separate them.
--How long should I keep trying for adoption before I move the babies to a brooder to raise myself?
--Can a chick bond or imprint on a human in a couple hours of play?
--Does imprinting reduce the chance of success in bonding to the broody hen?
-- Should I have waited another week to introduce chicks?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Judith

 

[Up-the-Creek]

It sounds like your hen is just not in the mood to adopt. Your best bet would be to seperate them to avoid any injury. I do not think she will warm up to them at this point. As far as imprinting on humans,..I'm not sure chickens would do that. Good luck!

 

[Chirpy]

From what I've heard (no personal experience in this area) - your best bet to get momma hen to take on chicks is to put them under her at night. I don't know if you can try to do this tonight after she's sleeping or if she will have figured it out since you already tried and she didn't want them.

At this point you need to take the chicks away from her though... she isn't going to accept them if she's been pecking at them. I think the reason it works for some people is the personality of the hen. I had two broodies at the same time this summer. One of them hatched out a chick but then ignored it while she continued to sit on her eggs. Both mommas were in top nest boxes sitting on their eggs. The chick fell out of the nest box... the momma that hatched it completely ignored it but the other momma (the good one!

) jumped off her eggs and got the chick under her and stayed there until I came. She protected it from all the other chickens in the coop and it wasn't hers. I moved both her and that chick to my rabbit hutch and she has raised it successfully (as she did last year).

Chickens don't imprint on humans like some other species. They do, however, become people friendly the more they are handled as they grow up.

Good luck... it sounds like you are going to have to raise these chicks yourself.

 

[JHaller]

The next morning the chicks were all over the coop. Luckily it was still quite hot outside, so they were fine. I put them aside and tried to move the broody to an isolated coop. She would NOT sit on the nest, just fussed and paced back and forth. A few hours later, I let her back on "her" nest.

Waiting until after dark, with all the other hens quiet, and the day-olds quiet, I silently put them back under the broody hen. So far, no pecking. When I checked on them, they were near her tail, but not under her.

But this morning, they were on the opposite side of the coop. You all are right, I'm raising these chicks!

Thanks for the helpful input,

Judith