Will a broody hen take older chicks (two weeks old)?

[Jewelwing]

When I got my chicks two weeks ago, they were one day old. I had a Speckled Sussex hen who'd been broody for just over a week, and an Australorp who'd been broody for a few days.

That night, I snuck all eight 1-day-old chicks under the hen who'd been broody the longest. I got up before dawn to see her reaction to her new chicks, and it's a good thing I did because she tried to kill them. She pecked the first one that crawled out from under her, and tossed it around a little before I realized what was going on and pulled the broody off the nest. I gathered up the chicks and put them back in the brooder.

I waited a night, and then tried putting three chicks under the other hen, who'd been broody for about 5 days by then. At dawn when she noticed them, she started pecking them too, so I took them away again.

Now it's two weeks later, so the first hen has been broody for three weeks, and the other one for about 2-1/2 weeks. Also, I now have another hen, a Faverolle, who's been broody for 3 or 4 days. I only have seven hens, so now I'm hardly getting any eggs!

So what I'm wondering is if I should try putting the chicks, now two weeks old, under the Sussex or the Australorp again, now that they've been broody for about as long as it would take to hatch eggs? Should I try just a few so I don't risk the ones my daughter has become attached to? If she accepts them, would she accept more the next night?

Or should I just give up and raise them myself & deal with the hassles of integrating them into the flock later?

Here's a couple pictures of them now:

 

[Jewelwing]

The end of this story is that all three broody hens ended up co-mothering all the chicks! It turned out that the key was to introduce them during the day when food was there rather than to sneak them under a broody in the middle of the night. Here's how it happened:

When the chicks were three weeks old, I separated off a section of the coop for them to stay in because I didn't have a brooder box big enough for them anymore. I enclosed their area with chicken hardware cloth and hung towels over it so the big hens wouldn't be too bothered by them. I figured I would remove the towels later so everyone could see each other and get used to each other.

The three broody hens would get very agitated when they could hear the chicks peeping in distress as they tried to settle down for the night. One morning when the chicks were almost 4 weeks old, I had taken their little red food trough out of their area and set it in the big part of the coop to fill it up. One of the broodies hopped off her nest and started pecking at the food and making "come here and eat, chicks!" noises. Two of the chicks hopped over the 12" board separating their area (I'd left it open while I was filling the food) and started eating, because they were hungry for breakfast. The broody was very happy that her calls had been heeded, and soon all eight chicks were eating with her.

After that, she was showing them all around, and then she napped with them, so I let her stay with them in their little area. By the next day, a second broody wanted to show them food and hang out with them. The third broody (the faverolle) still wanted to kill them on sight, though, so I had to be careful. The rest of the flock was too busy free ranging, so they totally ignored the chicks.

Since the one nasty broody was the only danger to the chicks anymore, I ended up putting her inside the little area I'd made in the coop and letting the chicks out to be with their two adoptive mamas. After two days of that, the two mamas were out free ranging with the chicks and the one broody was complaining loudly in the pen in the coop, so I let her out to see what she'd do. She made a bee-line for the two mamas and the flock of 5 week old chicks. She chastised them and made a couple half-hearted pecks at the chicks, and then settled in to showing them food to eat instead.

After that, all three hens mothered the chicks!

At about ten weeks old, the first two broodies left the chicks and became full flock members again, pecking the chicks away from food and roost spots. So in the end, it was the faverolle who stuck with the chicks the longest, and she still tolerates them completely even though she's back to laying again and foraging without them. But she never pecks them away from food and she still cuddles with them at night. The chicks are almost 16 weeks old.

I guess every situation's different - I never would have expected the broody hens to adopt chicks so old!

Here is the faverolle cuddling with "her" 12 week old chicks:




The other hens on the other side of the coop:

 

[Yayah]

Great thread and story! I just learned this today as well. Had a broody Ausrtalorp on some Seramas which were just far too fragile for her heavy-footed mothering. I took them away and decided to try giving her two about 3-wk old chicks. I locked them together for about 24 hours in a dog crate and then let them go and was quite shocked that the chicks stuck by her. I figured she'd be chasing them around but they're totally accepting of this "mother" idea. Really amazing to see. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I might as well give it a shot. She did peck each of them for just a moment when I put them together, but it was only a tense 30 seconds or so and then supervision. Cute family! She's now mom to a Polish and a Turken. Anything is possible I guess!

 

[Carchick]

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to add another success story for anyone who would like to know. So I have about a 10 or 12 year old Buff Orpington named Buffy. About 6 years ago or longer, a rooster attacked her and she lost sight in her right eye. I've had to keep her separated from other birds for quite awhile because they'd peck on her and she couldn't defend herself. She's still in the coop with them but has her own fenced in area. Just about 7 months ago we let her out in the big area to hang out with the other hens and they all accepted her. She still has her own area to sleep in at night or else she wouldn't be able to find her food or water. So 5 days I got 2 easter eggers who are 3 1/2 weeks old. I figured I put them in the pen with her as she's older and very gentle, plus due her loss of sight, she'd have a hard time getting them. I put them in at night and they all slept on the low perch as well as the 2nd day...by the 3rd day she started "talking" to them and would let them know when she found food. I kept the 3 of them separated and they have their own outside area too. That night she got on the ground and was talking to them, spread one of her wings and 1 of the chicks got under her wing and the other one snuggled up against her! I will take Buffy and put her in the main outside pen with her piers but a few hours later she makes her way back over to the babies when she hears them calling for her. Since she can't see in the one eye it's difficult to maneuver but when she hears them, she gets their in record time. It has brought tears to my eyes because she's had a rough life, but now she has new purpose to her life! She's an extremely loving mom and I can tell this is what she's always wanted to be. When I get a chance tomorrow I'll take a picture of this wonderful family.

 

[Blooie]

Oh! I so love it when I'm wrong in situations like this ! It's just wonderful that it worked out so well for you, the moms, and the chicks! Yippeee!

 

[azygous]

What a delightful story! Three broody adoptive mamas! Just wonderful!

I commend you for sticking with your broodies and being patient while allowing this "family" to form.

 

[Blooie]

I'm afraid you are going to be on your own. The broodies most likely won't take chicks that old, and the chicks will be terrified to find themselves suddenly stuck with this great big, strange chicken.

 

[rotagen]

I just wanted to add to this older thread. Very interesting !

I have an isbar hen that is stubbornly broody going on 2 weeks now. She doesn't even care if there are eggs underneath her. My roo is also a bit too young and inexperienced so pretty much all of the eggs are infertile.
She's only 9 mos old but I have several barnyard mix chicks at almost 2 wks old (various ages).
I will try to introduce them to each other when I put the babies in the little outside coop with food in the area . I'll update.

 

[renk777]

Update...checked on mama and chicks throughout the day. Chicks were mostly out from under her but sticking around her and responding to her vocalizations for food. They weren't huddled due to cold which led me to believe they were under her and had just come out. I went out again a few moments ago and saw some pecking around and others under her peeking out. I threw some more food in and watched her call them. Even though they dispersed when the food was tossed in, they came running to her and started eating when she called. Still don't want to get my hopes up too high but it does seem as though they're imprinting on her a bit. I'll check again later as the sun goes down to see if they follow her into the coop or if we have to place them under her. But at this moment, I'm thinking the experience above might not be completely random and that it might be possible to successfully put 2-3 week old chicks under a broody. Not sure if it matters but this hen isn't even a year old. She hatched in Oct 21 and this is the first time she's broody. Perhaps her lack of experience with what to expect was in my favor....

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Humans will adopt adolescent or even young adult children, chickens not so much.