I have had my 4 hens for barely a year. They came to me at 8 weeks old so I have had no experience with chicks. That being said, my Cochin cross is broody and has been on the nest for nearly 3 weeks. Without a rooster, her chances of hatching an egg are zero. I've explained it to her but she's really stubborn. I keep taking the eggs, being laid in her nestbox by the other 3 hens, from under her. She persists in her broodiness.
Last night well after dark I retrieved 2 less-than-a-day old chicks from a breeder who incubates her eggs. I put one baby under each wing while removing all the eggs that had accumulated in the afternoon.
By morning the chick which had taken a fall when the breeder picked it up was dead outside the nestbox. I lifted the broody hen this afternoon and found one egg and a crushed baby.
Now I am totally crushed and upset. The hen is still on the nest but apparently she did not have enough maternal instinct to keep the laying hen out of the box where the baby was safely tucked.
I don't know what to do next. Do I wait for next week's hatch and try again (but this time isolate momma and chicks)? Will this broodiness EVER go away if I don't do something?
I am at my wit's end.
Last night well after dark I retrieved 2 less-than-a-day old chicks from a breeder who incubates her eggs. I put one baby under each wing while removing all the eggs that had accumulated in the afternoon.
By morning the chick which had taken a fall when the breeder picked it up was dead outside the nestbox. I lifted the broody hen this afternoon and found one egg and a crushed baby.
Now I am totally crushed and upset. The hen is still on the nest but apparently she did not have enough maternal instinct to keep the laying hen out of the box where the baby was safely tucked.
I don't know what to do next. Do I wait for next week's hatch and try again (but this time isolate momma and chicks)? Will this broodiness EVER go away if I don't do something?
I am at my wit's end.
