I would let your hens hatch out some chicks. Maggie is right about them learning manners from mom...plus survival skills and whatever else they need to know. Another plus is that you won't have to worry about them being accepted into your flock. Momma will bring them into the flock activities when she thinks they are ready. It's so much fun to watch a hen raise chicks. And you won't have to worry about bringing any diseases into your flock. If you buy chicks, you would have to keep them warm and keep them seperate from your flock until they are old enough to defend themselves. Getting cockerals is the only downside that I can think of in letting your hens hatch out their own.

^^^ Hahaha...I once had to buy eggs at the market while my girls were molting, I brought them home and made a point to show the eggs to the girls to remind them what they looked like. Laying started up again shortly thereafter. :) Well...we checked both incubators and candled the eggs we could see into last night. A lot of them were clear, especially the Polish eggs. :( But I don't see my Polish ladies getting much action from my roos, the dumb boys! Other eggs have chicks, but I could not tell if they were alive or not, and how fully formed they are. No peeping or activity yet from any of the eggs, but they aren't due to hatch until beginning at 8PM Saturday night. If none of these hatch, I don't know what to think...I know that both of my roo boys are getting their job done and I don't think they have fertility issues, they are healthy fellas. We did change locations for the incubators this year, to my dining room table, in a corner of a room away from windows and doors to help protect from drafts. I THOUGHT I had a great spot, but if this batch doesn't work I'm going back to putting the darned things in the kitchen. :( On top of everything else, we are having weird weather here since yesterday, supposed to continue until Tuesday--wind, rain/hail, and tornadoes, of all things! If the power goes out, I have my broody hen contingency plan...Bear, Splash and Blue are all broody and would get to sit on the eggs. :) We checked the cam last night and have it all set up and ready to go, if hatching begins we'll fire it up and I'll notify everyone. Time will tell! Velvet !:>

There are two methods that MAY work... although they are risky with that much difference in age between the chicks. Still, I successfully added a couple of chicks that were about five days younger than the others using what I like to call the "two for one" method. A kid thought this one up and his mother posted it on the forum a long time ago. One bright kid! Put the two orphaned chicks in a bucket (not a clear one) or similar container. Kidnap the hen's current babies and add them to the bucket. (A butterfly net works great for catching them.) The stolen chicks will set up a frantic peeping once they cannot see Mama... and Mama will fuss and scold and generally work herself up into a tizzy. The more upset she is, the better. When you get to the point when it looks like Mama's eyeballs will pop out of her head, lower the bucket and let out all four chicks. Typically Mama will be confused and know something is different, but will not be able to figure out what, since hens cannot count. And she is so relieved to have her babies back that she doesn't much care and accepts them all. But be ready to pull the younger chicks out if she starts hurting them. I've done this a few times and never had it fail. Hens are birdbrains. I THINK they can tell the difference between "one" and "more than one"... but not the difference between two and three or four. The more the chicks look alike, the better chance of success. The other method is the tried and true "wait until dark" method. You simply sneak them under her with her own when she is asleep and she assumes they are all hers when she wakes up. If it doesn't work, however, she may harm or kill the newcomers unless you are on the spot early to check on them. Forget the Vicks or other scent confusers. Chickens don't use scent to identify their young. They rely on sound and sight and situation. "They are under my wings so they must be mine." Good luck! And please post an update so we know how it turns out!

The moma's usually know how much pressure a chick can handle. My duck hens will get the baby right next to their skin, kinda engulfing the baby in feathers. It keeps them very warm and cozy. What's cute is when the babies climb onto momma's back to get a good look around.