There is no sure-fire way to get a hen to adopt a chick raised in an incubator, but there are steps that you can take to increase the chances that the mother will accept the surprise addition. By making sure the hen is ready, timing the process properly and introducing the chick at the right time, you can enjoy reasonable odds of starting a happy new chicken family.
Instructions
1. Make sure that you have a broody hen at the time the incubator chick hatches. Broody hens won't do much of anything besides sit on their eggs. They rarely leave the nest box and will be aggressive towards anyone that comes near them. For this reason, they usually have to be segregated from the rest of the chickens during this period.
2. Keep a close eye on the chick for the first couple of hours after hatching to make sure it's healthy and well. If you see signs that it is struggling or ill, consult a farm animal veterinarian.
3. Wait until nighttime to introduce the new chick to its adoptive mother. Move quietly around the hen in the evening to ensure that she is still broody and is settled in for the night. If she is not guarding her eggs in an appropriate nest box, you may need to move her and her eggs into one before proceeding.
4. Carefully and gently place the chick under the hen in the middle of the night. The chick will almost certainly take to the hen immediately. The hen will likely sleep through this experience if you're careful and gentle enough.
5. Check on the chick and hen early in the morning. The hen should still be brooding in its nest box. If the chick is still under her, then the hen has likely already accepted it as her own. If the chick has been removed from the nest, it will have to be raised by other means.
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