How to Introduce Chicks to a Broody Hen

Do you have a broody hen? Want to help her become a mama? In this post, we’ll talk about how to help your broody hen adopt day-old chicks successfully.

​When Broody-Chick Adoption Makes Sense

If your hen is broody and you’d like to add to your flock, introducing chicks to your hen for adoption is a great option. As long as she accepts them, she’ll raise them just as if she hatched them herself.

Adoption is a great way to grow your flock and allow your hen to experience motherhood if you’d like her to have chicks but don’t have fertilized eggs of your own, or are having trouble sourcing them. At times, it may be easier to find day-old chicks at a local feed store than fertilized eggs from a farm. Or, you may just want to help your hen skip three weeks of dutiful egg-sitting.

(Not sure if your hen is broody? Read this first.)

How To Set Up Your Broody Hen and Chicks for Adoption Success

There are a few important things to keep in mind when introducing a hen to chicks for the best chance at a successful integration:

1. Introduce day-old (or so) chicks. Your hen will know if they chicks are older than a couple days, and will be more likely to reject them, which is potentially fatal for the chick.
2. Make sure your broody is committed. Some hens, due to individual or breed traits, are simply fickle broodies. Have your hen settled in her own broody space on a clutch of eggs or dummy eggs for about a week before you give her chicks to make sure she’s definitely broody.

Just in case your hen doesn’t take to her new chicks, have an indoor space prepared for the chicks with food, water, and a brooder plate, if possible.

​How to Introduce Chicks to Your Broody Hen

To introduce chicks to your broody hen, gently slip each chick one by one under your hen. As you tuck a chick under her, remove an egg. Make this exchange until all chicks are under her and all eggs are removed.

Personally, we recommend doing this under cover of night. Your hen will be drowsy, relaxed, and less aware of what is happening. If all goes well, she’ll wake up finding that her eggs miraculously hatched overnight! 

In the past, we’ve given chicks to broodies in the evening with great results, but a nighttime introduction does carry more risk that, in the event your hen rejects the chicks, hours will go by before you know it. If pushed from the nest, a chick can easily get chilled and die.

​While daytime introductions increase the risk of rejection, you do have more opportunity to observe and intervene if needed. It’s a personal choice–do what you feel comfortable with and what makes the most sense for your life and schedule.

Regardless of when you give chicks to the broody, I recommend peeking in on your hen and her new babies regularly to make sure everything is going well.

​Conclusion

Adopting chicks with a broody is a sweet way to expand the flock and allow your hen to express her natural instincts. With a little planning and set up, you can set your hen and her new chicks up for success!

Did you find this post helpful? For more information about broody hens, check out our posts on How To Break A Broody Hen Safely and our Complete Guide to Broody Hen Care.