Broody hen killed newly hatched chick?

[jools2014]

I wish I knew if it happened in the night, then I'd be almost 100% it was the broodies. I'm pretty sure no rats can get in during the night-they only go in during the day when the door is left open. In any case, wouldn't the mommas be right on them at night so a rat/the other chickens wouldn't be able to get them?

Only finding one chick it's difficult to say what happened, the other 2 eggs just disappeared. I would definitely not have 2 broodies again, trouble is I don't know which one killed the chicks or if it was both. But they are sisters, so if one's likely to do it, the other probably is too. Both hens are around a year old and it's their first hatch. Well second time I've had them sit on eggs-right before this one I had them on 3 eggs, one got broken early (by me), then on day 17 one was cracked with blood coming out of it, and the other egg again just disappeared! It's very odd, not knowing what happened is frustrating.

They were sitting on their own eggs the last time, but since that failed I kept them sitting and they sat on another hens eggs. I would definitely not try again, not going to think about it until next spring now anyway. They are the only 2 broodies I have, I'd buy day old chicks next time and give them to one of them and watch it very closely.

I am sorry others have had this experience too, it is really awful when you hear little chirps and look forward to babies to later find nothing, or dead chicks!

 

[jools2014]

Well when it happened before I had no reason to think they had killed the chicks-only two eggs and one was cracked-which could've been an accident, the other one just disappeared so had no idea what happened to it. Plus it was early, something like day 17 or a little earlier. What seems to happen is one pips or gets cracked and then the other eggs just disappear! Even though as far as I could tell, none of the other eggs had pipped yet. Though they might've done during the night.

I was in two minds about trying again, but since they were both still broody and waiting for their babies I decided to give it another shot. Bad idea I guess!

My problem is I have no idea which one is the killer or if it's both, so wouldn't really be fair to put both of them in a pot! I wont know which one did it unless it happened again, and it could be possible that the only reason one/both did it was because they were both sitting on eggs together.

I think if I tried it again I'd get a duck! Already have ducks but again not the broody type, so I think I'll try ducks next time though I'm sure the same thing is probably possible with ducks too, or any bird/animal.

 

[tvlgal85]

I feel so fortunate after hearing these stories. I had my 1st 8 eggs hatch out at the end of June with one broody who left the chicks after a month and another one that hatched out 8 egss about 2 weeks later and left her chicks after about 2.5 months. They were both very good mamas. I also have 2 more that are broody hens that would love to hatch out chicks, but I just don't have the room. Mine are Jersey Giants and Welsummers.

 

[mulambo28]

I have a bantam easter egger who is a serial broody that does an awesome job of incubating the eggs. Unfortunately, two days after hatch she always kills them. After the first time I thought it might've just been because she was new, but she did it a second time. The second time I caught her in the act of trampling the last remaining chick and I was able to rescue it. It couldn't walk for several days but made a full recovery. She is my only hen to go broody so I just rescue the chicks as soon as they hatch and dry off. It's a lot easier than using an incubator and she has a high hatch rate. The only ones not to hatch the last couple times she sat weren't fertile.
She is a crazy neurotic mess when she isn't broody so I assume after the chicks are hatched she resumes her craziness and kills them.

 

[AmericanMom]

I have a bantam easter egger who is a serial broody that does an awesome job of incubating the eggs. Unfortunately, two days after hatch she always kills them. After the first time I thought it might've just been because she was new, but she did it a second time. The second time I caught her in the act of trampling the last remaining chick and I was able to rescue it. It couldn't walk for several days but made a full recovery. She is my only hen to go broody so I just rescue the chicks as soon as they hatch and dry off. It's a lot easier than using an incubator and she has a high hatch rate. The only ones not to hatch the last couple times she sat weren't fertile.
She is a crazy neurotic mess when she isn't broody so I assume after the chicks are hatched she resumes her craziness and kills them.

I wouldn't be using any of her eggs for incubating, you don't want to pass on that bad trait if your going to keep her

 

[aalissa]

I have a bantam easter egger who is a serial broody that does an awesome job of incubating the eggs. Unfortunately, two days after hatch she always kills them. After the first time I thought it might've just been because she was new, but she did it a second time. The second time I caught her in the act of trampling the last remaining chick and I was able to rescue it. It couldn't walk for several days but made a full recovery. She is my only hen to go broody so I just rescue the chicks as soon as they hatch and dry off. It's a lot easier than using an incubator and she has a high hatch rate. The only ones not to hatch the last couple times she sat weren't fertile.
She is a crazy neurotic mess when she isn't broody so I assume after the chicks are hatched she resumes her craziness and kills them.

I wouldnt allow her to brood at all and I would definately get a new broody from another source and then I would put her neurotic self in the pot.

 

[AmericanMom]

I wouldnt allow her to brood at all and I would definately get a new broody from another source and then I would put her neurotic self in the pot.

LOL... I was going to suggest something along that line, did so myself with a stupid hen that was a great broody up until day 18 or 19 and then would systematically break open the eggs and kill the chicks... She was pretty good made into Enchilada's

 

[mulambo28]

As soon as I get another hen that goes broody she will definitely find her way to the soup pot. A year ago, a few days before she was scheduled for the pot, a raccoon killed over half of my flock. I couldn't bear the thought of killing her after so much loss and her persistent broodiness has helped replenish my flock.

 

[aalissa]

As soon as I get another hen that goes broody she will definitely find her way to the soup pot. A year ago, a few days before she was scheduled for the pot, a raccoon killed over half of my flock. I couldn't bear the thought of killing her after so much loss and her persistent broodiness has helped replenish my flock.

I am sorry for your loses both the the flock the raccoons took and for the chicks that have perished this year. It is very disturbing when these things happen.

 

[TexasLisa]

Hi! I have an Australorp hen who is a little over a year old and was setting on 4 eggs.

Here is Beauty's story: She became broody last fall. I broke her from setting the first time. When the 2nd time came around, I left her in the nesting box. Why? I had tried to move her to a brooding box inside the coop. She wouldn't stay put. Ok, I decided to let her stay in her nesting box with her eggs. She would be fine for a few days and then jump nest to sit on an egg another hen had laid. I broke her from setting.

Sooooo, she became broody again. I let her have 4 eggs. (One egg completely disappeared) She stayed in her box but would let others lay an egg in there while she was in there. The eggs were due to hatch on Thursday (23rd). Wednesday I went to check and there were 3 hens sitting in the same box. I shooed them out and found an egg had been squished (or so I thought). It looked like there was some life, so I moved Beauty and the eggs to the broody pen. She stayed put. Thursday morning, I found she had kicked the squished egg out of the box. This morning I found another egg kicked out of the box. It looked like the first one. It looks liked the chick was coming out of the shell and it died. Did Beauty kill it? I have one egg left and so far it hasn't pipped.

I have had experience one other time with a broody hen. It was with another Australorp. Her name was Stretch and she was a fantastic mother.

What do ya'll think?

Lisa