How can I tell if my broody is accepting her chicks?? Help!

[lisaleesa546]

last night I put 2 chicks under my broody hen. She laid on them all night fine. I went to check on them later and found one had gotten out from under her. When it got near her she pecked it, not too hard and it wasn't hurt, and it did eventually get back under her. I've been checking a lot but I guess I missed her stepping out. I can tell from the poop on the ground that she did come out. When I got out there she was laying on the (empty) nest again and the 2 chicks were by the door. They are chirping and she's making some noises at them (soft kind of like gurgle I guess...idk how to describe it). But they aren't trying to get back under her and she's not moving near them at all. Also they were from tractor supply so idk if that makes them want to move around a bit and not sit under her all day.

Is she a bad mom? Should they be under her more? Should I put them back under her? It's been between 15-30 minutes since they've been under her. It's about 60 degrees out. They don't seem cold as they're moving around find. My first time dealing with broody hen so idk what to look for!! She is a RIR production if that matters.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[Pyxis]

The trouble might not be her, it might be the chicks. If they are too old, they won't imprint on her. Since TSC has their chicks shipped in, chicks are at least two to three days old already when they get them. That's already at the time limit for imprinting. If yours weren't chicks that came in that day, they may well be too old to imprint on her, which is why they aren't coming to her as she calls them and why they aren't under her to stay warm.

She might be fine with them - the pecking the one chick got may have been accidental, she may have been aiming for your hand and got the chick instead. Usually if a hen doesn't accept the chicks she either kills them or abandons the nest and leaves them there alone.

However, if they won't imprint on her, and it sounds like they might not, you will need to brood them on your own.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As Pyxis said, they may be a bit old. Some broody hens will accept and mother about any chick even if they are fairly old. Sometimes even a bit older chicks will accept the broody hen. But the older the chicks are the less likely either of this is to happen.

A broody hen will sometimes peck her chicks to discipline them. She is not trying to hurt them just letting them know they need to do what she tells them. A typical reason is to tell them to "Get back under me, you don't need to be out in the open like that". Sometimes a hen can force older chicks to accept her by doing that even if they don't want to.

Sometimes when a broody hen rejects chicks she will try to drive them away, usually by pecking. She is not necessarily trying to hurt them, but they can become injured. Sometimes a hen will try to hurt them. Sometimes when she rejects them she just ignores them. There is a lot going on in that process of bonding and imprinting and each chicken, broody and chick, have their own personality.

I don't know what to tell you. If it were me I'd probably put them back in the nest with her and observe. As long as she doesn't hurt them and they don't wander off leave them alone. They might work it out. But yes, you might need to brood them yourself.

 

[azygous]

Yes, that was my first thought - the chicks you bought are already too old to graft to a broody. It sounds as if she is willing to accept these chicks, but it's the chicks who don't know a good thing when they see it.

Keep in mind that broody hatched chicks come out of their shells while under the hen. That's where they find themselves upon their entrance into the world. Your hatchery chicks came out of their shells in a drawer in a giant incubator, were snatched out of the drawer, tossed onto a conveyor belt for sorting, and tossed again into shipping containers, had a bumpy ride through the postal system, then ended up being dumped into a stock tank under a heat lamp in a feed store. Then you bought them and they were carried back to a hen where they were stuffed under her.

If that was how you began your life, would you know what your were supposed to do?