Will a broody hen adopt chick??? Please answer ASAP!

[Mary Coleman]

So I have a Phoenix hen that has been broody for about 7-10 days. I just recently bought 3 assorted feather footed bantams Saturday. They are not even a week old they have very tiny wing feathers but no others. My bantam Cochin just went broody today, so I thought that I could just put my phoenix's eggs under the Cochin and put the chicks under the Phoenix. Do you think she will adopt them? Has she been broody long enough???

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Wow. Sounds complicated. I've never tried but IT have read if you slip them under a broody at night, they are more likely to accept them. Part of it depends on bird personality, I would think.

I might be concerned about the age f the chicks. Mama doesn't always lead the chicks to food the first day. She will wait areund to see if any others hatch. Week olds are already eating, they might get hungry.

I have also read that you should let a broody go for a few days to help guarantee they are broody, sometimes they change their mind.

Good luck.

 

[red horse ranch]

So I have a Phoenix hen that has been broody for about 7-10 days. I just recently bought 3 assorted feather footed bantams Saturday. They are not even a week old they have very tiny wing feathers but no others. My bantam Cochin just went broody today, so I thought that I could just put my phoenix's eggs under the Cochin and put the chicks under the Phoenix. Do you think she will adopt them? Has she been broody long enough???

I really don't think they have any concept of time. My Cornish hen would brood year round if I let her, whether or not there were eggs under her.
I don't know whether the hen would accept the chicks. She probably would but I don't think I would risk my baby chicks that way. But that's just me.

 

[Mary Coleman]

So I just put a chick in her nest a second ago at first, she was clucking happily, then I think she realized that that wasn't her chick. She fluffed up HUGE growled and pecked the little chick. It didn't seem to hurt it though. I still was chirping as if nothing happened. So I put it back in the brooder and it happily joined the others. So does it only work if they sit under the mom all night??? Or does she just not want any other babies than her own? She is one of the more stubborn hens in my flock. Should I just give up?

 

[Puddin Fluff]

It is hard to say. I've never done it. I have heard of hens killing chicks that weren't theirs and other hens randomly adopting strange chicks.

Personally, if she didn't accept it on the first go, I would e afraid to try again. That's just me.

 

[Arizonachick]

If a hen is broody, she will accept new chicks if they are young. You could wait and try and slip them in at night. My experience is with cochin bantams who are great mothers and would adopt just about anything. I just put new chicks in front of her and she opened up her wing and clucked for them to come. It was that simple. it was during the day. It's normal for a hen to lightly peck at her chick. You can tell if its aggression. Mine will draw blood if I stick my hand in her nest box to protect her babies, but she will lightly peck a chick to get its attention and direct it. Try again. Give her a chance.

 

[rons99]

I have not tried it, but am contemplating it. I have a broody Salmon Favorle sitting on an empty nest for several days. I also need a response from those who have tried it. The nest is about 2.5 feet above the ground. What will happen to the chicks?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are dealing with living animals. You don’t get guarantees with them.

I’ve done it with chicks I hatched in an incubator, always with chicks maybe 2 days old at most. I’ve put some under a hen at night after it was well dark. I just cupped them one at a time in my hand and slid them under her. When I checked the next morning everything was quiet. She raised them fine.

Once I waited until the hen brought her chicks off the nest, then put her in a pen. I caught her chicks and put them in a box then added several more to the box. When I dumped the box in front of the broody she didn’t seem to notice her chicks had gone from 4 to 15.

Some broodies will accept about any chick at any age, but the older the chicks the less likely most broodies are to accept them. She might accept week old chicks if you slip them under her at night, but I’d be very sure to be there first thing the next morning to see if she was mothering them, killing them, or abandoning them. I’d be real nervous trying it with week old chicks. With some hens they will be OK but to me that is getting real risky.

Another problem is that by a week old the chicks have not bonded with that hen. The chicks may not want to have anything to do with her.

A hen will peck a chick to discipline it but they can also try to kill one that way. I sure can’t tell you which that was way over here on the internet.

I’ve seen a hen get chicks down from a 10 foot high hay loft. When Mama says jump, they do, then bounce up and run to Mama. I don’t suggest you put a broody up that high, but when Mama decides it is time for the chicks to leave the nest, she’ll hop down on the ground and tell her babies to join her. They will.

 

[Arizonachick]

You will need to move her to a "ground floor apartment" otherwise the chicks will fall out of the nest and not be able to get back in. They will get cold and die. It's easy to do..especially if you do it at night.

 

[Dawns Funy Farm]

last year i had a banty hen hatch some chicks and she accepted some tsc babies i picked up no problem ,just a couple days ago I but some tsc babies under a marans hen that had been setting for almost three weeks her eggs kept disappearing , I but the babies under her at night all seemed well although i did notice she did not cluck to the litle ones, early next morning I found five dead chicks and two still under her alive, needless to say she is in the brooder buster pen right now and will not be allowed to set again. it just depends on the hen