2018 Newbie Chat!

[Anna Ranieri]

It appears my broody ate an entire chick. I found another empty shell that very clearly hatched.... no baby though

I had no idea that chickens eat their young - I've known it about mice eating their young but never chickens!

 

[PNW_Peepers]

I had no idea that chickens eat their young - I've known it about mice eating their young but never chickens!

I’ve been reading up on it, if the hen feels the chick is struggling or deformed they often will eat the chick to prevent any flock disruption later on. It’s not common but can happen I guess.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I’ve been reading up on it, if the hen feels the chick is struggling or deformed they often will eat the chick to prevent any flock disruption later on. It’s not common but can happen I guess.

Ah yes makes sense, same as with mice, only with mice are other factors too, in captive breeding male has to be removed otherwise he will eat the young, mother will eat their young if cage is too small or in a cramped environment [we used to breed mice many years ago] - although can be horrifying, when thinking of the wild makes sense really because animals don't have the knowledge/understanding/brain capacity to think or know beyond instinct.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Oh my gosh guys! DH lifted the whole nest and box up and baby was underneath it the whole time! He managed to revive it even though it was so cold. We heated the house to 85 and I got out heated blankets. Some nutridrench to the tip of its beak. In less than three hours this chick has made a full comeback.

 

[d.dachickenman]

Oh no! That's terrible. Does she have eggs left to hatch?

You can separate them if you're equipped to do that. Sometimes it's for the best for the safety of the eggs/chicks. We didn't because our coop is an old work shed turned coop so our broody and her chicks have plenty of room to separate from the rest of the flock. And our nesting boxes are on ground level so the chicks don't risk falling anywhere. We had one situation with pecking from another pulley but that was because our broody was in the favorite nesting box and the other pullet wanted to lay an egg. So we moved our broody to the other side of the coop in the nesting box that never gets used. No more pecking and the other pullets leave them be. The broody is plenty capable to take care of the chicks and keep them warm but like Peepers above some broody hens just dont have good mothering instincts and you may need to step in. If the broody is a good mom and they're safe in the coop I would let them be raised there. That way you dont have to worry about introductions later on. They will already be part of the flock. We are checking on the chicks every hour or so making sure no one is being a bully and actively seeking out the chicks. So far so good but if that did happen we would separate the broody and chicks from the flock for their protection.

Thanks for the response.
.
Unfortunately while I was at school one of the other hens pushed aside the broody and layed a couple eggs, the new eggs were layed a two days after the original three. Will the broody stay on all the eggs until they hatch

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Thanks for the response.
.
Unfortunately while I was at school one of the other hens pushed aside the broody and layed a couple eggs, the new eggs were layed a two days after the original three. Will the broody stay on all the eggs until they hatch

Staggered hatches are hard on broodys. She’ll either wait for all to hatch risking the lives of the first ones hatched. Or she’ll get up after the first set hatches and leave the remaining eggs to get cold and die.

 

[TheFlyingFluffy]

Thanks for the response.
.
Unfortunately while I was at school one of the other hens pushed aside the broody and layed a couple eggs, the new eggs were layed a two days after the original three. Will the broody stay on all the eggs until they hatch

This happened with my broody chickens, and they stayed on the eggs

 

[Geranium]

Wing feathers coming in nicely, and this girl has the start of tail feathers, too!

 

[CannedMonster]

Oh my gosh guys! DH lifted the whole nest and box up and baby was underneath it the whole time! He managed to revive it even though it was so cold. We heated the house to 85 and I got out heated blankets. Some nutridrench to the tip of its beak. In less than three hours this chick has made a full comeback. View attachment 1533633

Thank God you found it!!
It’s so cute.
Now you have to give it a name pertaining to hiding or wandering or something lol.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

We put her in with the others last night. She’s weaker than the others, but they love her and have been snuggling her. DH wants to name her Lazarus or Frankenstein. As she was pretty much dead and brought her back to life.