advice on broody hens killing chicks

mamahen1980

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I have 6 broody hens, they all crawl on top of each other to lay in community favorite area to hatch. I have had 9 chicks survive hatching but also have lost about 7, the survivors are black like hens, the others were red or white. They have killed those, and they are still half sitting on more, some have been crushed or pecked. Do i remove remaining eggs and babies or just keep picking up dead ones? I find it strange can anyone help me figure out whats going on?
 
It sounds like you have too many brooding hens for the space they're in. I would separate whoever is the most dedicated to the babies, give them all to her and kick everyone out and break them of being broody. Lots of bad things can happen when a lot of hens pile together, and not all hens make good mothers.

Good luck, sorry about the ones you've lost
hugs.gif
 
You could try giving them to one of the other hens, but I would separate her as well, so none get broken...

I'm not sure she would take any new chicks if she's got older ones. And if she did, the older chicks would probably run them over, literally.
 
There are2 that stay on remaining eggs and dont fight, its the ones that are taking care of babies and then still want to pile up on them like its their clutch. And I finally saw one of the hens grab new hatched foot and shake it, she doesn't have chick that follows her but she is broody. Could she be mad for not being able to sit and cant steal chick? So I'll keep one for raising already hatched, separate 2 clutches. Is there a good way of moving nest? I tried separating some and hen refused to stay with them. Thanks for all the advice, I have alot of drama in my coop, lol.
 
With that many females hopped up on hormones, yeah there will be some drama. :hide Sorry, couldn’t resist. They are broody because of hormones.

To move a broody, fix up a jail cell. It needs to be big enough for a nest, food and water, and just a little room for her to come out and go poop. I fixed my nest so I could lock a hen in the nest by itself if I wanted to. At night after everything has settled down, move the broody to the new nest using as little light and commotion as you can manage. Normally I’d say to use fake eggs or disposable eggs until you see she has accepted the move, but you have real eggs that can’t wait on that. So move her eggs with her. Make that new nest fairly dark. That seems to help. Bright is not generally good.

She needs to be locked in that pen area so she cannot go back to her old nest. When I move one, I leave them locked in the nest itself for practically all the next day, just let her out a bit before dark to see if she gets off to eat and drink. Most of mine wait until the next morning to do that.

The danger in moving a broody is that she might break from being broody. When you let her out if the nest she wants to go back to her old nest and just won’t accept he move. You can move most broodies like this and it works, but occasionally one just won’t accept the move.

Good luck!
 
Sometimes it helps if you can scoop up the nesting material and move everything (hens, eggs and nest) at the same time. But, that may be difficult with as many as you have!
 

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