HELP!!!!!! mother pecked the baby

Status
Not open for further replies.
Date sort Score sort
Grandmas Coop

Grandmas Coop

Crossing the Road
9 Years
Mar 8, 2014
6,338
29,862
926
my buff Orphington / broody hens egg #1 hatched this morning, I went... to the coop just as it was coming out of the shell,,,, mother had pecked the baby,,I had to grab it cuz she was wounding , it has a big skin pecked spot on its neck and I found one on its butt { I am typing one handed cuz I am holding the baby} The baby is peeping, moving around, sleeping ??? We'll see how is goes???? Any suggestions would be welcome
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm sorry to hear that. Sometimes the mother thinks something is wrong and tries to help her baby out of the shell or clean something off of it and ends up injuring it. Other times the mother is just aggressive, it really depends on the individual.

Take the baby inside, keep it warm, help it to dry. Stop any bleeding and prevent infection with some antibiotic ointment or blue kote (I think this is a specially made chicken spray). Keep the wound clean, keep the chick quiet and calm. Try offering it a place to hide out of direct heat though, so the skin doesn't dry up. Offer electrolyte water in a tablespoon and dip the chicks beak into it to help it drink (leaving a waterer in will likely just lead to the chick catching a chill or possibly drowning). Don't offer food yet, not until the chick is stronger.

I had the same thing happen to my chicks (three of them) and they all ended up passing, so I'm not sure what does work, but I hope this helps.

Best of luck!
 
VivaldiWinter1 said:
my buff Orphington / broody hens egg #1 hatched this morning, I went... to the coop just as it was coming out of the shell,,,, mother had pecked the baby,,I had to grab it cuz she was wounding , it has a big skin pecked spot on its neck and I found one on its butt { I am typing one handed cuz I am holding the baby} The baby is peeping, moving around, sleeping ??? We'll see how is goes???? Any suggestions would be welcome
Click to expand...
Is it a peck mark or a claw mark from the broody? As stated above, Doctor the baby and keep it warm---close 95 degree's!

Did you actually see the hen pecking it? I have set/hatched MANY broodies and have never seen a chick coming out the shell under a broody or a pipped egg about to hatch. How would I or you if its under her? Was it laying beside her? What does it mean egg #1?? Are the eggs put under her on different days??
 
Last edited:
VivaldiWinter1 said:
my buff Orphington / broody hens egg #1 hatched this morning, I went... to the coop just as it was coming out of the shell,,,, mother had pecked the baby,,I had to grab it cuz she was wounding , it has a big skin pecked spot on its neck and I found one on its butt { I am typing one handed cuz I am holding the baby} The baby is peeping, moving around, sleeping ??? We'll see how is goes???? Any suggestions would be welcome
Click to expand...
Baby slept on a heating pad in the tub

This morning baby got a few driks of water, then went back to sleep, then wanted to peck at the food and water and went back to sleep.
SO last night I candled the other egg and it is not a keeper, so I put broody hen and her egg in the regular nesting box with the dudd egg~
This morning at 6 when I let the hens out of the coop, I tossed broody out of the coop So she would go poo and eat and kept the egg.

SO, I thought man after having the hen broody for the 21 days to hatch a egg and 3 weeks before that surely she must be able to take care of a chick!!!!

Later around 7:30 I went back out and took her out of the nesting box and brought her back in the house.

I figured without the egg to worry about MAYBE she would focus on the chick??????? Well so far so good!! She has fluffed herself, checked out the check, and hasn't gone after it, we'll just stand-by all DAY and watch
 
VivaldiWinter1 said:

WOooHOooo We have success!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Yay! I'm so glad!
celebrate.gif


If she was the one to hurt him, she probably didn't mean to. Like I said, sometimes momma hens try to help chicks out of their eggs but are a little too rough about it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

F
    • Like
    • Love
Why are my other hens pecking my chicks
Replies
2
Views
813
Fee1inclucky
F
sarahfred101
Baby chick pecking others eyes
Replies
8
Views
2K
Farmgirl283420
Farmgirl283420
Iluveggers
Baby chick attacked by hen (photo attached)
2
Replies
16
Views
1K
Iluveggers
Iluveggers
N
Two breeds, 4 wellsummer and 2 unknown - my two brown ones losing feathers? And won’t peck grass outside?
Replies
8
Views
313
NLars
N
K
    • Sad
Baby chick attacked
Replies
2
Views
535
Allsfairinloveandbugs
Allsfairinloveandbugs

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom