We had one of our Barred Rocks go broody and decided to let her hatch out some eggs. Of the 7 she was sitting on, only 3 developed and 2 hatched yesterday. We bought some 2 day old chicks from a local farm and switched out eggs for chicks. In total, our hen had 10 chicks under her and she seemed to accept them all, even nudging them under her.
We kept an eye on them for the next 4 or so hours and all seemed well. However, this morning we moved mama to check on them discovered that 5 of the introduced chicks were dead. They didn’t appear to have any injuries, and they were all laid out under her still.
My wife said she was also picking up one of her actual chicks by it’s wing and we aren’t sure if this is normal or if this is here trying to kill them.
Is she killing them intentionally or could this be them being crushed without her knowing? We separated here from the remaining 5 to be safe, but she is obviously in distress over not being able to get to her chicks.
We kept an eye on them for the next 4 or so hours and all seemed well. However, this morning we moved mama to check on them discovered that 5 of the introduced chicks were dead. They didn’t appear to have any injuries, and they were all laid out under her still.
My wife said she was also picking up one of her actual chicks by it’s wing and we aren’t sure if this is normal or if this is here trying to kill them.
Is she killing them intentionally or could this be them being crushed without her knowing? We separated here from the remaining 5 to be safe, but she is obviously in distress over not being able to get to her chicks.
