I got hatchery chicks and broody hen that is due in two days! should I put them under her tonight? will she sit on other eggs until they hatch?

[crazy_chicken99]

Hey! I have a broody hen that will have chicks in two days (on sunday) but i bouht day old chicks today too (friday) should i introduce them today or tommorow? i really want to hatch the eggs also. And i do not want chicks getting too old. will hen sit on the eggs for another 48 hours? what is your experience.

what would you do

Thanks a lot for help

 

[casportpony]

I would keep the chicks you bought in a brooder until your hen's chicks are hatched and fluffed up.

 

[sourland]

I would not try to foster the chicks to her before the eggs hatch. Hens are biologically programmed to leave the nest within 24 to 36 hours after the first chick hatches so that the chicks can access feed and water. This is what causes major problems with staggered hatches.

 

[FunClucks]

The timing here is not good. Hatchery chicks have already exceeded their three day window from hatch, and need to be fed and watered often. When a hen hatches eggs, she waits on the nest for 3 days after the first chick hatches and then takes all the hatched chicks to get water and food. Anyone left unhatched at the end of those 3 days is usually abandoned and dies. So if you are putting hatchery chicks under a hen that hasn't even hatched her own eggs yet, they need to eat immediately - they may starve/die of thirst while she sits on the nest for three days waiting for the rest of the eggs to hatch. Or she may get off the nest, leaving her own eggs to die. Either way, the chicks will be a week or two apart once eggs finally hatch, which is not good for the smaller ones.

I would not introduce these hatchery chicks to the broody, but would raise them in a brooder. They can be introduced when the youngest chicks are 4 wks old. I would let the broody raise whatever she can. Unless you stick hatchery chicks under the broody immediately when they get home (after they've had food and water once they get home with you) and she's ready to take them off the nest right away, this is not a good situation.

The eggs will hatch starting Sunday through at least Tuesday. So by the time the eggs have finished hatching the hatchery chicks may be 1-2 weeks old. I would not mix the chicks.

In future, if you want her to adopt hatchery chicks, have her sit on dummy eggs, then remove them and replace with hatchery chicks. Once eggs are gone, she's more likely to take them out to eat. You'll need to watch and be sure she doesn't reject the chicks and that she takes them for food and water that day. They have to be very young from the store. Or you can slip a few hatchery chicks under her once she's just finished hatching hers and see how it goes, but either outcome is uncertain. It's a try it and see approach, and depends on the individual hen whether she'll adopt them or attack them.

 

[crazy_chicken99]

yeah, i really didnt think it would go that way.. because hatchery only provides day old chicks once a week and i miscalculated... i will do better next time

thank you all for the answers

 

[NatJ]

yeah, i really didnt think it would go that way.. because hatchery only provides day old chicks once a week and i miscalculated... i will do better next time

thank you all for the answers

I would put the hatchery chicks in a brooder with feed and water until the chicks under your hen have hatched and she seems ready to take them off the nest.

That night, after dark, put the hatchery chicks underneath the broody hen along with her own chicks. Check on them first the morning, and keep an eye on them for the next few days-- I think there is a good chance this will work, but there is some chance that she will reject chicks of different colors, and some chance that the chicks will wander off instead of staying with her.

When adding chicks to a broody hen like this, I would not let them out to range in a large area until about a week later, so the chicks have time to learn that they should stay with the hen. A pen up to about 4 or 6 feet each way is good: room to move around and practice coming back to the hen, but not big enough for any chicks to get really lost. If your pen is already smaller than that, obviously it would not be "too big."

 

[ChicNmom]

Adding the new ones really depends on your hen.

My friend didn't wait for all of her hens eggs to hatch and as soon as most hatched she removed the hen and chicks. The next day the last egg hatched and the hen rejected the chick. She didn't want it in any way and was attacking it.

But I have had a hen with 3 day old chicks accept a couple of extras from the feed store and I didn't even have to sneak them under her.

 

[Ridgerunner]

what would you do

Eggs do not always hatch at exactly 21 days, whether in an incubator or under a broody hen. They can easily hatch 2 days early or 2 days late. So you don't know when they will hatch.

Feed store chicks are shipped from the hatchery. They are typically delivered around 48 to 72 hours after hatch. When they hatch they absorb the yolk and can live off of that yolk for 72 hours or more. Then they need to eat and drink.

Since you are combining hatching and feed store chicks it gets complicated, especially when you don't know the exact timing of the hatch or exactly how old the hatchery chicks are. The way I'd try it would be to brood the feed store chicks with heat, food, and water. Do not brood them where the broody hen can hear them chirping. She might abandon her nest and go to them. After her eggs hatch and she brings them off of the nest I'd put the feed store chicks near her and see what happens. The chicks may reject the broody hen. The broody may reject the chicks. She may attack them to do harm but she may just try to drive them away from her chicks. You may wind up brooding them yourself. Or she may accept them and raise them herself along with her chicks.

If the chicks are slow to obey her she may peck them. Basically saying "Naughty children, do what I say". She's not out to hurt them, just trying to get them to accept her. It can be hard to tell the difference of her trying to harm them or drive them away and her telling them to quit this foolishness and get under me where it is warm and safe.

When I set eggs under a broody hen I often put some eggs in the incubator. I've had bad results under a broody and in the incubator. This way the broody has chicks to raise. Sometimes they hatch at the same time but I've had hatches where one was earlier than the other by as much as two days. Usually it is not a big deal to get her to accept them all but there have been a couple of occasions where it did not work out as I'd have liked.

I'm afraid you may be in for a stressful few days. Often it works out though. Good luck!