Will allowing my broody hen to hatch out eggs discourage her from being broody in the future?

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I have had success with day old chicks, hatching eggs, and even 4 week old chicks with one broody lady. It really does depend on the breed and the bird whether they will break and be happy or not. But you do at least get eggs from them while they raise the babies if they are really momma material. I have one who just really loves sitting—hates momming. I have several that love it and do it super well. I have had a couple who killed the babies as they hatched. And my two silkies that would brood, raise, brood, raise, and maybe lay 2-3 eggs all summer. They just wanna have babies!! Sort of like people She does sound more committed but I will say my friend finally gave her Australorp eggs to hatch and she abandoned them and went broody again. So you just never know! As others have said, you just need to give her a try and see what works for her Or trade her with someone wanting a super broody Meat chicks would be fine IF she’s willing to take babies. I make sure to remove eggs as I give the babies so she connects the baby to an egg under her and stops brooding to momma. Hatching eggs works great, but you will want enough to ensure she gets one or two babies and not quitter eggs…otherwise she will not break. I gave my persistent broodies 5 eggs and 3 hatched. Worked perfectly. But I have had shipped eggs that didn’t hatch at all and had to get chicks anyway. So keep that in mind!

Omg! Sounds like broodies are just very unpredictable. The switching out eggs for the chicks is a great idea, but my Australorp is currently sitting on nothing Maybe I should put some wooden eggs under her or something. I think that's actually what mafe her broody in the first place. I had those in the nest because I have some pullets near POL and wanted them to see eggs in the nest. Really backfired because they didn't start laying yet anyway and I'm stuck with a mean broody lol.

Anyway, from everyone's posts, it's hard for me to decide. What's less of a risk of chicks being abandoned or hurt: hatching eggs or day old chicks?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Typically it would be eggs. But every day she sets past 21 days is a risk she'll abandon the nest. And some just don't graft well with chicks. Most of mine do, but I've had one or two that just won't take chicks

 

[NatJ]

From what you have said, this is what I would try:
--give the broody a few fake eggs to keep her happy for now
--set up a brooder
--buy your meat chicks
--when the chicks arrive, put them in the brooder for the first day, and make sure they all eat and drink. After dark, put two of them under the broody and take away the fake eggs. If the chicks are all the same color, any two will do. If they are different colors, pick two that do not match.
--the next day, watch how the broody acts. If she is nice and motherly toward the chicks all day, put more chicks under her that night. If she is not being a good mother, put "her" chicks back in the brooder if they are still alive.
--at some future point when the chicks no longer need her, put the broody back in the usual coop, and let the meat chicks finish growing to butchering size.

Giving her just two chicks at first is a way to test whether she will accept them, without endangering the whole batch.

If she accepts the chicks, after about three days you can quit worrying. She will not hurt them unless something really unexpected happens (she might step on them if something scares her, or if a chick gets hurt she may then try to drive it away or kill it.) There is some risk that a chick will wander off into a cold corner and ignore her clucking, but after a few days the risk goes way down (because they have learned, or else you have seen the problem and gone back to brooder-raising the chicks.)

I have given chicks to hens a number of times. If she accepts the first few, I have never had trouble adding more the next day except in one case where different colors turned out to be an issue. If she does not accept the first few, of course there is no point in giving her more.

 

[SueT]

If she accepts them from the start, does it mean she won't abandon them/hurt them later on? We can't afford to have our meat chickens killed as they are our food source, so that's kind of my worry. Having any chicks killed would be sad but from a practical standpoint losing the meat chicks because

I think so. Be vigilant for the first 24 hours. What I did with my most recent, is slip the chicks under at dusk. I was so tense bringing them out, but she’s already been a mom before. I put one in, then another. She seemed surprised at first but began chortling to them, and arranged herself carefully to accommodate them. So I put in the remaining four. I didn’t want the chance that the remaining wouldn’t graft well either from their end or hers. Then I sat w her about half an hour, and then checked several times before dark.
I was out there before dawn to check and to watch them wake up. The babies had already been in a brooder, and weren’t in that just hatched stage where they’d sleep all the first day, but luckily it was chilly, 62º, so they did stay under. Here’s what I wrote in my journal:
”I sat out there from sunrise till the chicks emerged and it was heartwarming to see them bonding. Each one pecked her beak, looked at her face. Imprinting!!!! It wasn’t too late!!!!! Mom was starving. She wolfed down the small amt of chick food, that I placed close by, so I got a bigger feeder. I didn’t see much tidbitting. But they already knew how to eat and drink. “ I checked on them a LOT that day, it was obvious that she was a happy mama. Next day I moved them to their own little coop, and that went just fine. She fiercely defended them when I reached to pick them up.
They are 2 months old this week. She still hasn’t weaned them. No worries about the adoption not sticking!

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Thank you all!!! So maybe going with the meat chicks will be the best option, using the advice you all have given me. Thank you for the detailed advice.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

We're getting the meat chicks Monday. I decided I'm gonna move the broody to this old prefab coop I have. There she can (hopefully) safely raise the chicks in its small run, away from the rest of the flock, our cat, and aerial predators. Wish me luck with the grafting! I think I am going to start with 2 chicks under the broody like someone suggested, and put the rest under if it goes well.

 

[Saveria]

We're getting the meat chicks Monday. I decided I'm gonna move the broody to this old prefab coop I have. There she can (hopefully) safely raise the chicks in its small run, away from the rest of the flock, our cat, and aerial predators. Wish me luck with the grafting! I think I am going to start with 2 chicks under the broody like someone suggested, and put the rest under if it goes well.

You will have to give her a few days to settle in the new nest. I actually find it is easier to put the chicks under and then move her the next night, you have to keep track of chicks, but they settle right away.

 

[Morrigan]

I have given chicks to broody hens many, many times over the years. I've never had one kill the chicks. Only once did a hen not accept the chicks. In that case she drove them from the nest and I found them huddled in a corner of the coop.

Every hen is different. Some will eagerly accept chicks in broad daylight. Others require a fair amount of sneakiness. Always best to start by being sneaky, which is to put them in at night. My strategy is to distract the broody with one hand by carefully removing the fake eggs -- she will probably peck that hand like crazy -- and then use the other to carefully tuck the chicks in behind her, so that she feels them under her, rather than sees them.

It's helpful if it is somewhat chilly that night and if the chicks are are slightly chilled themselves. You want them grateful to be under a warm hen so they stay put. Warm chicks on a warm night might not want to stay under the broody and start wandering off, in which case the broody may get confused and not recognize them as "hers."

I've always given the broody her chicks right in the main coop, all at once. I've never bothered with a separate brooder and have never had problems with the other hens bothering the chicks. The only precaution I sometimes take is to put a chicken wire barricade around the nest for the first 24 hours, so no one tries to squeeze into the nest to lay an egg, and then a day later, I relocate mom and her chicks to a quiet corner of the coop.

If you do decide to move you broody, do it as soon as possible so she has a chance to accept her new location before the chicks arrive. Do be aware that the move might (temporarily) break her broodiness. In which case she may not accept the chicks, but than frustratingly go broody again in a couple of weeks when the chicks are too old to foster. For that reason, I would be disinclined to move her unless you really feared that some of your other hens were bullies or particularly aggressive.

 

[Morrigan]

I'll also add that I have put broiler chicks under a broody a few times. I find it a great way to go. Far less work for me, and the chicks get a really wonderful and natural upbringing. Seeing a mom with her new chicks is one of my favorite things about raising chickens.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Thank you all! I don't think I'll move her until a couple days after having the chicks then. I'll probably put some type of wire barricade up though for the first day or two in the normal coop, then move them all over. I really appreciate all the advice and I will give you guys updates tomorrow and the rest of the week.