trying to give some chicks to my broody hen?

[kumokumo]

i’ve gotten new chicks this spring, yay! and when i first got them, my little OEG hen named waffles became broody. she’s roughly a year old, and has been broody before but we’ve broken her broods multiple times. she’s the roosters favorite. we didn’t plan for her to raise them, so we already had a brooder prepared. but i thought why not give it a go, since she’s been so dedicated she hasn’t left the nest since we first got them. today they’re about 2 weeks old ish, we have 2 self blue bantam d’uccles, an OEG (like waffles), and a little polish chick (we think she’s a couple days younger than the others, but she’s still a bit bigger because she’s a standard size chick). i first gave her the OEG chick, she took to the chick well and didn’t peck at her at all. she gave some very soft pecks? and rearranged the nest to keep the chick warm. i introduced the polish next, because the chick was very calm, but waffles does NOT like her at all. she’s been pecking at her hard, and even after i try and hide the little polish under her, she pecks at her and the chick gets scared. i gave her the bantam d’uccles, she’s taken to them well too. it’s only been an hour or so of me watching, and ill keep watching them. for now, the polish chick is in the brooder. i heard that sometimes hens will take a week or two week old chicks, but its unlikely. is it still worth a shot if she’s not pecking at them? is she pecking at the polish chick because she’s a different color, or she’s too big? she’s a bit bigger than the other chicks, so maybe that’s why?

 

[DonyaQuick]

Pecking a chick is a really bad sign for her accepting them safely. 2 weeks old is generally too old for a lot of broody hens to accept chicks - usually it needs to be no more than a few days old and even then it can fail (just happened to me a few days ago). As for why the polish is getting singled out, it could be color or size, or that it wiggles more than the others, no way to know for sure. It should have a friend if it's going to be a brooder baby though, and I would really worry about her turning on one of the others though if she already showed aggression to one and because of how old they are.

 

[kumokumo]

Pecking a chick is a really bad sign for her accepting them safely. 2 weeks old is generally too old for a lot of broody hens to accept chicks - usually it needs to be no more than a few days old and even then it can fail (just happened to me a few days ago). As for why the polish is getting singled out, it could be color or size, or that it wiggles more than the others, no way to know for sure. It should have a friend if it's going to be a brooder baby though, and I would really worry about her turning on one of the others though if she already showed aggression to one and because of how old they are.

she also hasn’t been teaching them how to eat or drink yet. when i first got the chicks, that was the first thing i did. i put a food and water bowl next to her, and she was eating just fine, but wouldn’t call the chicks over. i don’t think she’s tried feeding them at all for the past 2 hours. should i take the chicks away and put them back in the brooder? she’s lightly pecking them, is she trying to get her scent on them?

 

[WoDia]

Pecking a chick is a really bad sign for her accepting them safely. 2 weeks old is generally too old for a lot of broody hens to accept chicks - usually it needs to be no more than a few days old and even then it can fail (just happened to me a few days ago). As for why the polish is getting singled out, it could be color or size, or that it wiggles more than the others, no way to know for sure. It should have a friend if it's going to be a brooder baby though, and I would really worry about her turning on one of the others though if she already showed aggression to one and because of how old they are.

I completely agree. The safest way for her to brood chicks is to allow her to incubate her own eggs. I would definitely take the chicks away from her and brooder raise them. She can’t be monitored 24/7. She may seem accepting one moment, and hurt them badly (or worse) when she’s not being monitored. For me, it’s not worth the risk.

 

[WoDia]

she also hasn’t been teaching them how to eat or drink yet. when i first got the chicks, that was the first thing i did. i put a food and water bowl next to her, and she was eating just fine, but wouldn’t call the chicks over. i don’t think she’s tried feeding them at all for the past 2 hours. should i take the chicks away and put them back in the brooder? she’s lightly pecking them, is she trying to get her scent on them?

Pecking is not a good sign. If she’s pecking at them or ignoring them, they’ll be safe in your brooder box.

 

[kumokumo]

update: the chicks are happily back in their brooder !! i also think waffles (the broody hen) is probably too inexperienced to take care of chicks, as she’s only about a year old. maybe once she’s older, we can try giving her some eggs or chicks. here’s a photo of her with the chicks.