Broody hen needs chicks

[DrSlippers]

How long will my hen stay broody?- it's been almost 4 weeks now, but the eggs have failed to hatch.

I would like to get some day old chicks to put under her, if I can find a supplier in time.

She seems very determined and is solidly sticking to her task still, but I am worried that she may quit before I get hold of some chicks for her to raise.
She's still in pretty good condition; just a little bedraggled, as you'd expect.

I have so far failed to find a local supplier after much searching and may have too look further afield, but I'm concerned that I may have left it too late.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[farmerdrea]

It all depends on your hen. If she's stuck to it this long (we've had some hens go 2 months before we were able to either source fertile eggs or newly hatched chicks, and then had the hen another 3 weeks till the eggs hatched!), she'll probably take chicks. What we do in this case, if you get chicks, is to give her some eggs for a few days, and then one night exchange the eggs for the chicks. They have to be newly hatched, otherwise they rarely bond. Be prepared to hand-rear the chicks if it doesn't work, but in 20 years of keeping chooks, we've only ever had this happen once.

Good luck!
Andrea
NZ

[DrSlippers]

Thanks for the advice, I'm hoping to find some suitable chicks in the next week or so. Hopefully my hen will still be broody and take them on.

If not I will be prepared, as you say, to do without her.

[DrSlippers]

After considering your advice, I bought 6 hatching eggs via Ebay and put them under my hen.
3 weeks later she hatched one chick which is now a week old. She's a keen mum and is giving her undivided attention to the new arrival.
Hopefully next year she will do better, otherwise building my flock will take years at the rate of 1 per year!