Can you add chicks to a mama hen who already has chicks?

[Celcampbell23]

I have a broody hen and a mama hen who hatched her own chicks. The chicks with the mama are 3.5ish weeks. I got some chicks for my broody hen and she rejected them. I have done this many times and never had one reject them.

The mama hen with chicks is still in the brooder with her chicks in the evenings so I snuck the new chicks in at dusk to see if she would take them.

She definitely realized they were there but didn’t seem to mind but she also wasn’t doing her clucking like they do with their chicks so I was still skeptical. The chicks got all snuggled in under her wings and she just let it happen but I’m wondering if anyone else has done this with such a big age gap and what the success rate was. I have a heat lamp in the brooder away from the mama chick in case the kicks them out they still have warmth but not sure if this is just a bad idea or not

 

[wrathsfarm]

I've been told to be out there super early in the morning in case she wakes up and doesn't accept them.

@Tstraub tell us the story about your broody (Gena?)

 

[Tstraub]

I've been told to be out there super early in the morning in case she wakes up and doesn't accept them.

@Tstraub tell us the story about your broody (Gena?)

Gena hatched out 7 chicks and mothered them for 3 weeks then I added 2 more 3 week old chicks to her group. She seemed to accept them well enough. The 2 new ones always sort of stayed somewhat separate from the group but momma was happy to keep them warm or protect them any time they needed her.

She made sure that they were safe and warm at bedtime but during the day she mostly let them roam around wherever they wanted. This continued for about a week then one day she decided to ween all 9 of them. She just turned it off like a switch and returned to the main flock. All 9 of the chicks started taking care of each other and have been fine since. They are now 8 weeks old and getting along with each other and all of my adult chickens with only normal pecking order type little fights. Nothing ever too aggressive just short chases

 

[faverollefavorite]

I've been told to be out there super early in the morning in case she wakes up and doesn't accept them.

@Tstraub tell us the story about your broody (Gena?)

I just found a chick half in shell and mamma out with her 3 day olds. I deshelled the chick and it was alive. I am now raising it inside and hope to return it to mom tomorrow. I am not sure if I did this right. Any thoughts????

 

[wrathsfarm]

I just found a chick half in shell and mamma out with her 3 day olds. I deshelled the chick and it was alive. I am now raising it inside and hope to return it to mom tomorrow. I am not sure if I did this right. Any thoughts????

She may accept it but be prepared if she doesn't. Are there other eggs still in her nest?
If the chick seems strong enough, I would try placing her under Momma tonight after dark.
I've read that momma imprints on the babies when she takes them off the nest, so that's where this may not work. I would be out there super early in the morning to make sure she's accepted it.
Wishing you good luck...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I just found a chick half in shell and mamma out with her 3 day olds. I deshelled the chick and it was alive. I am now raising it inside and hope to return it to mom tomorrow. I am not sure if I did this right. Any thoughts????

You are dealing with living animals. Anything can happen. Nothing is absolute.

Some hens imprint on certain chicks and will not accept any others. Some hens will accept practically any chick, even with a wide age difference. You never know what will happen until you try.

When I put eggs under a broody hen I often start some eggs in the incubator. That way if something happens to one set of eggs the hen should have some to raise. What usually happens is put the incubator chicks in the nest after dark when the hatch is over. The hen goes to bed with 5 or 6 chicks and wakes up with over a dozen. That's usually not a problem. I'm down there at daybreak the next morning to see how it is going.

I only had a problem one time. The hen only hatched two chicks, both red. The incubator hatch had mostly red (five) but a couple of black chicks. The incubator hatch was a day late, that can happen. By the time I put the incubator chicks under her she had obviously imprinted on her red ones. She accepted all the red chicks but not the two black ones. She rejected those two and I had to raise them myself. This was her second brood for the year. In her first hatch she raised red and black chicks. Logical? Not so much but anything can happen.

Another time I had 14 chicks under a hen when I combined her hatch and the incubator chicks. But one incubator chick was shrink-wrapped when I took the others out of the incubator. I assisted it to hatch and kept it in the incubator overnight. The next morning around 10:00 AM I set the chick down near the hen. The chick ran to the hen and other chicks. The hen accepted it and so did the other chicks.

@favorollefavorite you can try to give that chick to the hen once it is active. She might accept it or she might not but I think it is worth a try.

I've read that momma imprints on the babies when she takes them off the nest

I read a lot of different things. Some I believe and some I don't. I don't believe that is the only time they can imprint because I've had some accept a chick after they have taken others off of the nest. Some hens seem to have more maternal instinct than others.

 

[PatriciafromCO]

I say hit and miss .. Had individual momma chickens with and without babies take in orphaned babies. My sweet tempered "African" geese flock would run to a baby gossling and take them in. My white meat geese would kill a (not one of their own) gossling or drown it..

If you have a sweet momma chicken that will keep them warm great. But if the chick isn't imprinted to the momma, then you will see that chick running around alone. Not the momma's fault.