[Kym503]

At last - one of my hens has gone broody.  She is a year old and has been sitting tight for 5 days now on unfertilised eggs.  I've read the posts about broody hens but somewhere I read that instead of putting hatching eggs under her you can introduce day old chicks.
Could someone please point me in the right direction for more information about this please.
Geri is currently sitting in a nest box but will I have to move her and if so where is the best place - does she need a separate enclosure?  Also - if I went down this course of action - how many would you introduce and when  and more importantly where do you get day old chicks?  I live near Swanley/Dartofrd in Kent.

Any advice much appreciated.

Kym

[kimT]

I’m afraid I can’t give you much info but what I can say is that you do need to move her into her own accommodation so she can rear her chicks. When you move her make sure the move doesn’t upset her and she stays sitting as you don’t want her to come off the nest and abandon her chicks.

I wish you luck in your search for day olds in your area.

[woodburner]

My great grandfather used to do this regularly apparently. (He was long gone before I was born.) When he had a broody, he would bring home a box full of day old chicks and replace the eggs she was sitting on with the chicks. When Mum gets back I will check to see if she remembers any details like how many, time of day etc.

A couple of things I have picked up off the net recently are that a hen can incubate up to a dozen eggs of the size she lays, and she can brood twice as many chicks as she can incubate, which by my calcualtions makes 24 chicks!! (of appropriate size)

I would move her well before you get the chicks, to be sure she is settled.

To replace the eggs with chicks you hold a chick in your hand, palm over the chick, rather than chick sitting on your palm, push your hand under the hen, release the chick, grab an egg and remove. I think I'd introduce the rest of the chicks before I removed the last egg, but in all probability, the hen will accept chicks simply put in front of her, once she's got the idea that her eggs are hatching.
If I could find a supplier of day old LS I would have tried this myself, commercial breeds are relatively easy to get hold of. I know a local poultry farmer (well mixed farming really) that would be my best bet, but if you know of any chicken breeders in your area, they may be able to supply you with somthing more interesting than Warrens.

[Kym503]

I've just checked and she's only sitting on one egg.  Do you think that means I could only put one chick under her?  Seems hardly worth it!

I'm going to get OH to sort out alternative accommodation/run for her (and any others that might go broody in future) but what size should it be and what should it consist of?  Also does it need to be in sight and soundof the exisiting hens so that they can get use to the new arrivals which hopefully will eventually increase the flock slightly.

Kym

[milly8]

my broody ended up sitting on only three eggs.went and got 6 chicks and when we got back on of her own eggs had hatched on day 25.left the other eggs and day olds with her and the other two eggs hatched next day on day 26.she was happy with them all and is a great mother.one chick died next day very suddenly but rest are doing well apart from a louse pro thats getting sorted today!!!!

[ness]

hi
I would let the hen sit for approx 3 weeks, the natural time for the chicks to hatch. then get the chicks in a box (cant help you with finding day chicks sorry) and put them near to the broody but out of sight for at least two hours so she thinks the eggs are pipping.  Then introduce them as the previous post suggested.  I don't think hens can count but you can introduce dummy eggs to her now if you want to swap eggs for chicks.
I'm no expert but managed to introduce chicks to my two broodys using these tips.  Be careful where you source your chicks from, and maybe get a few more than you need as you may lose a couple
cheers
ness