Well, this summer I had two hens decide that they wanted to be mothers. I have never had chickens hatch eggs so this has all been new for me. Runt, and Speckle were my two girls that did a lot of sitting, and sitting, and sitting. I did a lot of candling, (using light to see if the egg is fertile) and candling, and candling. I also did some incubating, and incubating.
Between the four of us; the two hens, my husband and I; we thought we had some fertile eggs to lay under the hens, or incubate, whichever happened first.
I read a bit, tried to wait an
d wait. Read some more...moved the hens into the nursery (area away fro the rest of the flock) so the babies could be more protected.
Side Note: Keeping a non-fertile egg under a hen or in an incubator will cause the egg to rot. Boy when the rotten egg breaks you have a nasty, smelly mess on your hands. Not Fun! Hint: the importance of Candling.
The Results: I hatched three chicks in the incubator, one we accidentally killed by overheating. The others...I placed with the two that hatched under Speckle, my hen, and they did not survive either. Speckle hatched two eggs also, but those chicks did not survive as well. It has been a sad summer for hatch-lings.
I don't blame the hen...I believe it was my fault. I was so busy trying to take care of the hatch-lings "Pasty or Poopy-butt" that I did not make sure they stayed warm enough after placing them back with the mama.
What you see in the video are the chicks I successfully introduced to Speckle while two of the hatch-lings were alive. I purchased eight chicks and three ducks from Tractor Supply and while Speckle was still nesting on eggs, I placed the chicks under her and she thought she had become a mother...and she took on the roll beautifully. She is teaching them everything they need to know. So Cool! See the Post : "Demise of a Villain" to get the story on the Ducks.
Conclusion: Introducing live chicks to a broody hen is the way to go. You don't have to do much. So far All Eight Chicks Are Alive!