Can I give incubator chick to a hen with chicks outside?

Newtoraisingchicks

In the Brooder
Aug 30, 2023
12
20
29
Hello. I have a clutch of eggs in each of 2 incubators as well as a clutch outside under a hen. One of the incubator eggs hatched yesterday but no others have even pipped, after 30+ hours. I moved the baby into a brooder box, then I went to check my hen outside. It looks like her chicks have hatched! My one baby in the brooder is lonely, and I am wondering if I can give him to the mama hen to raise with her chicks. If so, what's the best way to go about this? She had 4 eggs under her and at least one has hatched. I haven't lifted her to see if there are more yet. I actually think the egg that hatched from my incubator was mistakenly gathered and set in the incubator after the hen had already been sitting on him for 2 or 3 days. So, that's why he hatched 3 days early and the others have not yet. The hen originally had 12 eggs, but stopped sitting on all but 4 of them after 2 weeks, so I brought those in and put them in a separate incubator, candled them, and discarded 2 that were unfertilized. None of those eggs have pipped yet either. My one incubator chick who hatched somehow ended up in with the eggs that still have 2 days left on them. I keep hoping some one will pip and I can give my one chick a buddy in the brooder, but no signs of anything so far, and I have at least one chick outside who could keep him company. What do you think?
 
Also, I have been giving scratch grains to the mama hen while nesting, do I need to remove any scratch grains so chicks can't eat it? They do have chick starter available.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom