I posted elsewhere with questions but wanted to share in a separate thread with the outcome because this might be helpful to others in a similar situation.
I have a LF and a bantam flock. They're typically merged (until my husband builds me a separate bantam coop/run) but I separated them into 3 groups in Jan so that if a large fowl hen went broody, I could place only eggs with the genetics I wanted under her. But only my bantams have gone broody. 5 of them. 2 of them were still broody earlier this week...one was 3 weeks into sitting.
We're going away in July and I realized that even if a larger hen went broody, between incubation and development time, they'd still be pretty young when we went away. And I just don't feel comfortable leaving young chicks with a sitter. I hate separating my flock... it's more work for me and reintegrating roosters increases chances of injury so I prefer to have birds separated for as little time as possible. And just as I don't want to leave chicks with a sitter, nor do I want to leave sitter with 3 stations to feed, clean, and water. If sitter is willing to take on the additional work, I could wait until we return from vaca to set eggs under a hen but that's assuming a hen is even broody :/ We could be waiting months. Literally, all year. I don't want my birds separated that long. And right now, incubating and raising indoors is impossible...we just don't have the space).
On Tues, I stopped at a local feed store to pick up feed and they had some chicks left. Chicks looked to be between 2+ weeks in age (I've since confirmed May 1 hatchdate). Quite feathered already. I know the chance of a broody accepting them was close to nil but figured it was worth a try. I placed the chicks under the broody cochin bantams and one mama immediately tucked them in. Within 2 days (and despite their age!), they imprinted on her and started heeding her clucks and calls and seeking her out for warmth.
Unfortunately, I suspected 2 were cockerels. Seller was okay with me swapping out but I was worried the mama (Popcorn) would reject the new replacements as not being 'hers'. I prayed and proceeded to try anyway. We waited until later in the day yesterday to pull out the suspected cockerels and exchange them for 2 chicks that looked similar but that I felt more comfortable were pullets. Popcorn noticed they were missing and seemed anxious. She was reluctant to take the remaining 4 into the coop to bed down
Eventually, she did. We waited until dark to slip the 2 replacement chicks under her...hoping she wouldn't notice the difference and that even though they might not be imprinted on her initially, that they would follow whatever their former bin-mates did. I checked on them repeatedly last night and they all stayed under her. This morning, all 6 chicks are following her around and heeding her vocalizations.
When I first questioned if introducing 2+ week old chicks to a broody was possible, almost all info online stated it was not...that any hope of a successful outcome ended after chicks are 3 days old. I found one anecdote on here that suggested there was a chance...a situation where broodies were housed near chicks and eventually adopted them. I couldn't find any info regarding switching out older chicks. And yet, we were successful with both.
Ultimately, I think it depends on the bird. Popcorn was hatched in Oct. She's young. She's never sat or raised chicks before. So she has no experience...nothing to compare to. She was a very determined broody...sitting for weeks and looking so forlorn any time I removed eggs from under her. She's also extremely docile and sweet. Figured I'd share in case anyone else ever has a situation where they have older chicks and a broody and are contemplating the possibility of the broody adopting them. It's worth a try!
Pic for attention...Sprite 2 and Puffin 2 looking out the window while waiting for us to place them under their new momma ❤
I have a LF and a bantam flock. They're typically merged (until my husband builds me a separate bantam coop/run) but I separated them into 3 groups in Jan so that if a large fowl hen went broody, I could place only eggs with the genetics I wanted under her. But only my bantams have gone broody. 5 of them. 2 of them were still broody earlier this week...one was 3 weeks into sitting.
We're going away in July and I realized that even if a larger hen went broody, between incubation and development time, they'd still be pretty young when we went away. And I just don't feel comfortable leaving young chicks with a sitter. I hate separating my flock... it's more work for me and reintegrating roosters increases chances of injury so I prefer to have birds separated for as little time as possible. And just as I don't want to leave chicks with a sitter, nor do I want to leave sitter with 3 stations to feed, clean, and water. If sitter is willing to take on the additional work, I could wait until we return from vaca to set eggs under a hen but that's assuming a hen is even broody :/ We could be waiting months. Literally, all year. I don't want my birds separated that long. And right now, incubating and raising indoors is impossible...we just don't have the space).
On Tues, I stopped at a local feed store to pick up feed and they had some chicks left. Chicks looked to be between 2+ weeks in age (I've since confirmed May 1 hatchdate). Quite feathered already. I know the chance of a broody accepting them was close to nil but figured it was worth a try. I placed the chicks under the broody cochin bantams and one mama immediately tucked them in. Within 2 days (and despite their age!), they imprinted on her and started heeding her clucks and calls and seeking her out for warmth.
Unfortunately, I suspected 2 were cockerels. Seller was okay with me swapping out but I was worried the mama (Popcorn) would reject the new replacements as not being 'hers'. I prayed and proceeded to try anyway. We waited until later in the day yesterday to pull out the suspected cockerels and exchange them for 2 chicks that looked similar but that I felt more comfortable were pullets. Popcorn noticed they were missing and seemed anxious. She was reluctant to take the remaining 4 into the coop to bed down
Eventually, she did. We waited until dark to slip the 2 replacement chicks under her...hoping she wouldn't notice the difference and that even though they might not be imprinted on her initially, that they would follow whatever their former bin-mates did. I checked on them repeatedly last night and they all stayed under her. This morning, all 6 chicks are following her around and heeding her vocalizations.When I first questioned if introducing 2+ week old chicks to a broody was possible, almost all info online stated it was not...that any hope of a successful outcome ended after chicks are 3 days old. I found one anecdote on here that suggested there was a chance...a situation where broodies were housed near chicks and eventually adopted them. I couldn't find any info regarding switching out older chicks. And yet, we were successful with both.
Ultimately, I think it depends on the bird. Popcorn was hatched in Oct. She's young. She's never sat or raised chicks before. So she has no experience...nothing to compare to. She was a very determined broody...sitting for weeks and looking so forlorn any time I removed eggs from under her. She's also extremely docile and sweet. Figured I'd share in case anyone else ever has a situation where they have older chicks and a broody and are contemplating the possibility of the broody adopting them. It's worth a try!
Pic for attention...Sprite 2 and Puffin 2 looking out the window while waiting for us to place them under their new momma ❤
