1 day old silkie killed by alitter mate, I have 1 mother with 5 days old chicks.this little

[Fordi22]

Guy was probably from the same partridge mother, have 2 brooder sitting on eggs in box, there is 4 older females 1-1 1/2..a roo the same age which is very protective of the chicks, I thinks I have 2 other roos about 6 months old, all from same breeder bought the same time, found 1 day old chick behind the breeders box with. Guts coming out. What should I do, separated new chicks from the group as soon as they r born? Please help..

 

[azygous]

Sometimes new chicks are vulnerable to being picked off by the adult chickens when the broody is still focused on the eggs under her that still haven't hatched or if she's inexperienced and doesn't have the clout to protect her chicks.

So, yes, it's necessary to protect broody and chicks from the adult chickens during this vulnerable stage. Many of us have a partitioned off corner of the coop for a broody nest on the floor so the chicks are protected and they can also get in and out of the nest without trouble.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Often it's hard to know what happened even when you are there looking at them. It's possible something like a rat caught and killed the chick. It's possible one of the other chickens killed it accidentally or on purpose and started to eat it after it was dead, though I'd expect a grown chicken to eat the entire chick, not just peck at it. Mine eat mice whole and they do it in the open, not hiding behind a box. Or that one killed it and something like a mouse started eating it. Or that the chick just died on its own and something started eating it or just crushed it. It's even possible the chick hatched mis-formed and Mama cleaned it out of her nest.

Not being there to see it and the set-up I'm not sure what I'd do. I'd probably see if something like that happened again this, assuming that it was just a freak accident and not likely to repeat though I'd be down there a lot to observe. But I could understand you taking the chicks as they hatch and brooding them in a predator proof area. If you do that you probably should wait until they are pretty dry, other wise you may do more harm than good.

 

[Henry&Friends]

I section off wherever the broody hen is, and make a small run within their run for the chicks to live in and interact with adults, without them being able to get at each other.