Giving 2-3 day old chicks to a broody hen

[TanisGirl]

Ok, so we’ve been raising chicks in a brooder for the past few years since we started this. For the first time, we’ve decided to try out giving the new chicks to a broody girl. We haven’t had her long so don’t know what sort of “mom” she is/isn’t and we’ve never had “natural born chicks” (one of ours laying/hatching her own). On the advice of my (not-super-communicative) aunt, she simply told me to “sneak them in under her late at night and don’t get over protective”. Strangely enough, there was a plethora of questions I didn’t even think to ask until now (4am as we started putting 2 at a time under her around 1am -so far, 4 of the 6 are under her)…
1) she is in a coop with 3 small built-in nesting boxes but it’s a bit high off the coop floor. Should we leave them there or move them?
2) CAN I even move her/them tomorrow to the floor of the coop where there is no danger of them not being able to get back to her in the nesting box?
3) Do the chicks need to be able to drink and eat throughout the night like they do in the brooder?
4) She has a “mate.” We moved him, all our other girls and the other roo over to the other coop so she is in there solo. Her mate is freaking out and wants to be with her. Should I let him or keep him out?
5) The way this coop is designed, there is a long, very steep ramp from the upper area where the hen and chicks are to an isolated (via wire) “run” (that is still part of the coop). Should I keep the door to that area open or keep them all shut in so they are safe from falling, other chicken, etc?

(Sheesh! How did raising chickens get so complicated??!)

They say if you’re going to do this, it needs to happen before they are 5 days old (imprinting and such). Was thinking to add the last 2 chicks in tomorrow after the “move.” Thoughts??
We would raise the chicks inside as usual, but we have baby Cayuga ducklings coming next week and I think they are the ones who should be inside -both is probably too much to have inside this time of year and I’ve heard ducklings can be a bit of a handful. Lol!

Thank you in advance to anyone who can shed some light . I need to try to sleep for a couple of hours before I have to check in on them at daybreak..

 

[Iluveggers]

I’m in no way an expert, however if she wakes up with 4 chances are the two you add later might not get accepted. So I would try all 6 together. Be out there when she wakes to see how she reacts and remove them if she is violent & doesn’t accept them. They cannot stay that high up so if she accepts them I would move them to the ground first thing in the morning with mom. They’ll be fine without food & water while they sleep. Prob best to keep her mate & the rest separately until you see what kind of mom she is, but if she’s good & respected by the flock she will protect them.

 

[DobieLover]

How long has she been broody?
Did you move her to the coop she is in or did you move the rest of the flock out?
How large is the area the flock has and how many birds do you have total?
I never fully separate the broody from the flock.
She should have full access to the flock and they to her right up until hatch, then I close off the access to her but the flock can still see her and the chicks. When the chicks are 2 days old and highly mobile, I open the door.
Food and water are provided to mom and kids in their area. The entire flock should be on chick starter or Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side for active layers.
I would move her to the floor of the coop in a very plush nest well after dark and give her ALL the chicks at the same time and be out there before dawn to monitor.
If she accepts them, let her feed them and bond with them for 2 days then open the door and let her decide when she wants to take them out. Allow the flock access to the little family at the same time.
If she hasn't been broody for very long, she may not accept them.

 

[TanisGirl]

I’m in no way an expert, however if she wakes up with 4 chances are the two you add later might not get accepted. So I would try all 6 together. Be out there when she wakes to see how she reacts and remove them if she is violent & doesn’t accept them. They cannot stay that high up so if she accepts them I would move them to the ground first thing in the morning with mom. They’ll be fine without food & water while they sleep. Prob best to keep her mate & the rest separately until you see what kind of mom she is, but if she’s good & respected by the flock she will protect them.

I just went out there. Doesn’t look like anyone has moved (her or babies). All is calm so far. The last 2 didn’t get put in yet. Might wait til tonight.
Thanks for advice. Will go out back out again in a couple more hours (after I sleep some more ) to see what, if anything has changed).

 

[Ridgerunner]

1) she is in a coop with 3 small built-in nesting boxes but it’s a bit high off the coop floor. Should we leave them there or move them?

My hens regularly hatch in nests 4 feet off of the coop floor. When the broody hen decides the hatch is over she hops down to the coop floor and tells her chicks to jump. They do and run to her. They are not injured by jumping.

2) CAN I even move her/them tomorrow to the floor of the coop where there is no danger of them not being able to get back to her in the nesting box?

When my hens bring their chicks off of the nest they never go back to the nest. It's too high. They don't need a nest, the hen squats on the coop floor and the chicks go under her.

3) Do the chicks need to be able to drink and eat throughout the night like they do in the brooder?

The chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch so they can go for at least 72 hours without food and water after they hatch, often much longer. It doesn't hurt for them to eat and drink earlier, but they don't have to. When they get hungry or thirsty they will tell the hen and she'll bring them off of the nest to find food and water. That may not be for another day for yours. I once had a hen hatch a chick late on a Monday and she did not bring her chicks off until Friday morning. That was about 84 hours and the chicks were fine.

The chicks do not have to eat overnight in the brooder either. Many of us keep then in ways that they don't have enough light in the brooder to eat. Chicks with broody hens usually stay under them all night without eating because it is dark.

4) She has a “mate.” We moved him, all our other girls and the other roo over to the other coop so she is in there solo. Her mate is freaking out and wants to be with her. Should I let him or keep him out?

Your choice. My broody hens hatch with the flock, rooster and other hens, I don't separate them. Most of the time the other hens ignore the chicks. If they don't the broody hens protect their chicks. I've never had an issue with a dominant mature rooster even trying to injure a chick, sometimes he helps Mama take care of them.

5) The way this coop is designed, there is a long, very steep ramp from the upper area where the hen and chicks are to an isolated (via wire) “run” (that is still part of the coop). Should I keep the door to that area open or keep them all shut in so they are safe from falling, other chicken, etc?

A photo might help us see what it looks like. I let my broody hens manage all that but my coop is at ground level, I don't have a ramp. My first thought with something like that is that the broody may not be able to get the chicks back up that ramp after she takes then outside. So you might want to be out there when it gets near dark and she tries to take then to the coop floor to sleep.

(Sheesh! How did raising chickens get so complicated??!)

You don't have the experience with broody hens to see what they are capable of. Your imagination is on overdrive thinking of everything that might possibly go wrong. You don't trust your broody hen to take care of her chicks. This site often doesn't help, telling you all the things that you have to do when often you don't have to.

They say if you’re going to do this, it needs to happen before they are 5 days old (imprinting and such). Was thinking to add the last 2 chicks in tomorrow after the “move.” Thoughts??

When I give chicks to a broody hen I give her all of them. I don't complicate it by spreading it out. You can try giving them to her now or you can wait until after dark. All you've done by spreading it out is adding one more opportunity where something could go wrong. Usually if they accept the first ones they'll accept some added later. I don't know where you are located so I don't know your time zones, but I'd try sooner rather than later.

 

[TanisGirl]

My hens regularly hatch in nests 4 feet off of the coop floor. When the broody hen decides the hatch is over she hops down to the coop floor and tells her chicks to jump. They do and run to her. They are not injured by jumping.


When my hens bring their chicks off of the nest they never go back to the nest. It's too high. They don't need a nest, the hen squats on the coop floor and the chicks go under her.


The chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch so they can go for at least 72 hours without food and water after they hatch, often much longer. It doesn't hurt for them to eat and drink earlier, but they don't have to. When they get hungry or thirsty they will tell the hen and she'll bring them off of the nest to find food and water. That may not be for another day for yours. I once had a hen hatch a chick late on a Monday and she did not bring her chicks off until Friday morning. That was about 84 hours and the chicks were fine.

The chicks do not have to eat overnight in the brooder either. Many of us keep then in ways that they don't have enough light in the brooder to eat. Chicks with broody hens usually stay under them all night without eating because it is dark.


Your choice. My broody hens hatch with the flock, rooster and other hens, I don't separate them. Most of the time the other hens ignore the chicks. If they don't the broody hens protect their chicks. I've never had an issue with a dominant mature rooster even trying to injure a chick, sometimes he helps Mama take care of them.


A photo might help us see what it looks like. I let my broody hens manage all that but my coop is at ground level, I don't have a ramp. My first thought with something like that is that the broody may not be able to get the chicks back up that ramp after she takes then outside. So you might want to be out there when it gets near dark and she tries to take then to the coop floor to sleep.


You don't have the experience with broody hens to see what they are capable of. Your imagination is on overdrive thinking of everything that might possibly go wrong. You don't trust your broody hen to take care of her chicks. This site often doesn't help, telling you all the things that you have to do when often you don't have to.


When I give chicks to a broody hen I give her all of them. I don't complicate it by spreading it out. You can try giving them to her now or you can wait until after dark. All you've done by spreading it out is adding one more opportunity where something could go wrong. Usually if they accept the first ones they'll accept some added later. I don't know where you are located so I don't know your time zones, but I'd try sooner rather than later.

First, let me just say you’re amazing!!! And thank you so much! Next, we are in Bend. OR. The chicks arrived yesterday morning and they got to eat and drink all day yesterday and now they’ve gone 12 hrs without. I’ve checked on them every 30 minutes for the first couple of hours and now about every 2. The previous time I checked, I took the “lid” off the nesting box to allow natural heat in, came back about 30 minutes later to clean the upper floor and put new straw in so we could hopefully get her to keep them on that upper floor so they could eat and drink as needed. I’m going to clean both upper and lower floor and then take pics for you. Stay tuned….

 

[TanisGirl]

How long has she been broody?
Did you move her to the coop she is in or did you move the rest of the flock out?
How large is the area the flock has and how many birds do you have total?
I never fully separate the broody from the flock.
She should have full access to the flock and they to her right up until hatch, then I close off the access to her but the flock can still see her and the chicks. When the chicks are 2 days old and highly mobile, I open the door.
Food and water are provided to mom and kids in their area. The entire flock should be on chick starter or Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side for active layers.
I would move her to the floor of the coop in a very plush nest well after dark and give her ALL the chicks at the same time and be out there before dawn to monitor.
If she accepts them, let her feed them and bond with them for 2 days then open the door and let her decide when she wants to take them out. Allow the flock access to the little family at the same time.
If she hasn't been broody for very long, she may not accept them.

She’s been broody for about 2 weeks or so. There are 10 girls and 2 roos. Here are some pics to help.
Also, I was up checking right around sunrise and all was quiet. The chicks have been actively peeping for food and water and coming out from under her. I set their food and water up so they can get to it and 2 came out for that, but she hasn’t moved. Normally, she comes down once a day for about 30 min to an hour do eat, drink, and do her thing. She pecks pretty hard at them to get under her, but doesn’t help them and one was climbing up her trying to get warm. She does click softly at them but doesn’t seem interested in helping them eat or drink.

 

[TanisGirl]

I went ahead and added the last 2 chicks. Now all 6 of the chicks have come out and are nesting together without the hen. She isn’t doing anything to get them back under her. The coop is just under 80°.

 

[Iluveggers]

Are there still eggs under her? If so, make sure you take them out so she isn’t waiting for them to hatch

 

[TanisGirl]

No, no eggs. We tried that but it didn’t work. 3 real eggs and a small blue Easter egg (about the same size as our polish and Ko shamo eggs and she wouldn’t sit those and literally kicked out the Easter egg.