Will a hen adopt chicks?

[Tsaska]

Hi everyone,
I will try to keep this as concise as possible!
I have 2 chicken hens that hatched out keets on Mother's Day, are sharing the keets very nicely. I had a Guinea hen that left her nest at about 16 days after barely escaping a predator twice. Eggs have been in incubator since, due on or around the 4th.
I realize I may be living in Fantasyland, but...
Is there any way to get a hen, chicken or Guinea, to adopt these babies on hatching? I thought maybe I could put a hen in a dog carrier at night & put the keets under her then. I have no idea if this is remotely feasible, or if I should try it w/ one of the mommy hens or the Guinea hen. A few years ago I had a Guinea hen come home w/ 11 keets in tow. The next day my dog killed the hen. The remaining Guineas, males & females basically stepped in to care for & protect those tiny babies, & not one was lost. I really want to avoid the whole brooder thing if at all possible, mainly bc keets, even tiny ones are pretty deafening, &, well, its just way easier to have a hen do the work.
All suggestions, advice greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Aimee

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hi everyone,
I will try to keep this as concise as possible!
I have 2 chicken hens that hatched out keets on Mother's Day, are sharing the keets very nicely. I had a Guinea hen that left her nest at about 16 days after barely escaping a predator twice. Eggs have been in incubator since, due on or around the 4th.
I realize I may be living in Fantasyland, but...
Is there any way to get a hen, chicken or Guinea, to adopt these babies on hatching? I thought maybe I could put a hen in a dog carrier at night & put the keets under her then. I have no idea if this is remotely feasible, or if I should try it w/ one of the mommy hens or the Guinea hen. A few years ago I had a Guinea hen come home w/ 11 keets in tow. The next day my dog killed the hen. The remaining Guineas, males & females basically stepped in to care for & protect those tiny babies, & not one was lost. I really want to avoid the whole brooder thing if at all possible, mainly bc keets, even tiny ones are pretty deafening, &, well, its just way easier to have a hen do the work.
All suggestions, advice greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Aimee

Aimee, anything is possible----shoot they sent a robot to Mars----but that might have been easier than getting a non-broody hen to accept new babies??? She might kill them so if you try that----you will have to watch her at first daylight to see what she will do?? Personally I would put them in a brooder, so I do not have to deal with it, BUT I have 20 + brooders in my brooder house so that's easy for me to say. You do not have to put the brooder in your house---in a garage, storage building, even in a chicken coop---with heat, food and water. Good Luck

 

[Chickenlover2017]

I would introduce them carefully or your older hens might peck the little ones to the end