Any1, Hen Abandoning Babies?

[MacCana]

Has anyone seen, or had an experience with mother hens sitting on a nest until hatch, and then having her abandon the babies? I've never seen this & today when I went to my mother's house to feed chickens (I grow them out in a pen there b4 bringing home) I discovered a bunch of little day old chicks peeping loudly in my pen....as well as small groups randomly around the property. One was way far out in a side pasture (in the bull's pen) trying to take up with another mom with chicks (she wasn't having it though).
So after grabbing a bucket and pool noodle I went to challenge the bull to screw with me while I ran in and grabbed that baby, and then went around and collected the others. All lost & peeping trying to find mom. I found 9 & took them home & put them in a brooder under heat.

I've been trying to figure out if she abandoned them or if something happened to her. These come from a flock of "wild" old english game mixes on the property. These birds are always extremely good protective mothers, so I don't get it. Her nest was next to my pen & I looked for signs of blood or feathers and found none. I can't figure it out & I didn't see her today, though I'm not 100% what she looked like bc she was in bushes sitting all this time.

Has anyone else had a hen abandon babes before or does this sound like mom died protecting them from some sort of predator?

 

[centrarchid]

Abandonment I have seen involved hens in very poor condition / health. Check roost area tonight. If no hen then something likely happened to hen and something did not have time to come back for chicks.

 

[MacCana]

Well unfortunately I don't live at home anymore but I will try to go by tomorrow at dusk and check their roost areas. They go pretty high up in the trees. It wouldn't make sense for her to have left on part of health bc I personally will toss feed to these chickens when I go to feed mine. They looked good before but they have all put on weight and grown in population since I've started doing so over the past 6 months.

Never can tell though, thanks for the tip. I'll try to go around the property and look for signs of struggle as well. Counting these babes I now have 52

 

[centrarchid]

Poor health can be associated with much more than poor nutrition. Parasites and pathogens.

 

[MacCana]

Good point. Well I never found her so it looks like they're mine now. Helps that they're cute

. Question: Are they too young to give Corid in water? Less than a week old. I've got a chicken that's come down with cocci & I treated the big flock, but can't help thinking I should treat everyone just in case. Would corid water be too hard on them? If so I'll go pick up some medicated chick starter.

 

[centrarchid]

Good point. Well I never found her so it looks like they're mine now. Helps that they're cute  . Question: Are they too young to give Corid in water? Less than a week old. I've got a chicken that's come down with cocci & I treated the big flock, but can't help thinking I should treat everyone just in case. Would corid water be too hard on them? If so I'll go pick up some medicated chick starter.

My games do not get into the vulnerable to cocci window until about 3 weeks old. To help reduce risk I keep chicks away from adults. You can also keep chicks of ground away from anything moist and contaminated by microorganisms. I watch closely and treat only if the cocci gets out of hand. You can see problems a day or two before treatment needs to be started.

 

[newmarch2014]

52 chicks?!

 

[MacCana]

52 chicks?!

Haha no not just chicks. I actually have 35 chicks. The rest are almost adults

I have chicken addiction problems they're really easy for me to manage though. I just have to spend a couple hours a day tending to them (not counting free range time if the"big kids" get let out.) I have to supervise where we live right now but soon we'll be moving and they'll have their own 1.5 acres pasture to do with as they please during the day.