Are you supposed to check under your broody hen if you don’t want dead chicks?

[762]

We have a broody hen hatching our first set of chicks (so, she’s new at it, too). Day 21 was yesterday, and today a fluffy chick emerged from under her. We saw her stand up and saw another chick. A few hours later we saw a beak emerging from an egg. We decided after a few hours to check on it, and it was emerging fine. But because we physically lifted the hen, we were able to see two other eggs that didn’t look good. We pulled them and took them in the house to assist. On one, half of the shell had crumbled away from the membrane, which was fully intact. On the other, it was the same sort of thing except the membrane not fully intact and was broken through. Both chicks were dead. Sad!

So, once the “due date” hits, are you supposed to regularly check to see if any hatchlings need assistance? Was new momma just not sure what to do and didn’t get up enough to allow them to properly hatch, or should she have assisted?

One thing that was disturbing is that after this, we went back out to inspect all the eggs carefully, and one of her chicks has fallen out of the nesting box and was pacing back and forth, and momma wasn’t trying to help.

I feel very uncomfortable now with this situation. We were hoping momma would take care of everything, but now I’m starting to think that maybe we would have been better off hatching and raising them ourselves.

 

[HeidiGetsChicks]

Just because a hen is broody doesn't mean she'll be a good mother. Especially if she's new to it. It takes time to learn the skill and it takes a certain level of inbuilt instinct or temperament.

In my opinion if you want to be hands off, you have to be willing to risk loses. I'm personally concerned about all the checking, lifting her, etc, as I feel that can mess with a new mother's focus on her chicks.

The idea that mama hen will just take care of everything *can* be true, but that typically happens from a lot of trial and error and *bad* mothers being culled before you have some amazing ones you can trust with the chicks. If that process makes you uncomfortable then yes, hatching and raising yourself to have more control over the process would probably be a better fit.

 

[762]

I'm personally concerned about all the checking, lifting her, etc, as I feel that can mess with a new mother's focus on her chicks.

Just because a hen is broody doesn't mean she'll be a good mother. Especially if she's new to it. It takes time to learn the skill and it takes a certain level of inbuilt instinct or temperament.

In my opinion if you want to be hands off, you have to be willing to risk loses. I'm personally concerned about all the checking, lifting her, etc, as I feel that can mess with a new mother's focus on her chicks.

The idea that mama hen will just take care of everything *can* be true, but that typically happens from a lot of trial and error and *bad* mothers being culled before you have some amazing ones you can trust with the chicks. If that process makes you uncomfortable then yes, hatching and raising yourself to have more control over the process would probably be a better fit.

So momma needs to discover that she killed the chicks in order to learn?

Basically it sounds like I choose to let her be and almost certainly end up with more dead chicks, or check and risk that it might prevent her from learning.

Do you have any experience where checking under a momma hen precluded her from being a good mother?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You don't have to check under her to prevent losses. Some will have no issue at all without being checked. It just depends on what level of death and naturally is comfortable for you.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

We have a broody hen hatching our first set of chicks (so, she’s new at it, too). Day 21 was yesterday, and today a fluffy chick emerged from under her. We saw her stand up and saw another chick. A few hours later we saw a beak emerging from an egg. We decided after a few hours to check on it, and it was emerging fine. But because we physically lifted the hen, we were able to see two other eggs that didn’t look good. We pulled them and took them in the house to assist. On one, half of the shell had crumbled away from the membrane, which was fully intact. On the other, it was the same sort of thing except the membrane not fully intact and was broken through. Both chicks were dead. Sad!

So, once the “due date” hits, are you supposed to regularly check to see if any hatchlings need assistance? Was new momma just not sure what to do and didn’t get up enough to allow them to properly hatch, or should she have assisted?

One thing that was disturbing is that after this, we went back out to inspect all the eggs carefully, and one of her chicks has fallen out of the nesting box and was pacing back and forth, and momma wasn’t trying to help.

I feel very uncomfortable now with this situation. We were hoping momma would take care of everything, but now I’m starting to think that maybe we would have been better off hatching and raising them ourselves.

The chicks still in the eggs may have died before trying to even hatch, so it may not of been your hens fault. Sometimes I’ll have eggs that do the same thing, crumble a little. It’ll be ok to leave those eggs even though they’re cracked as long as it’s hatch day. If it’s not close to hatch day you can put a piece of tape over the cracked part. Sometimes the eggs will crumble like that is the shell is weak.
In my opinion if you do have a broody hen and you want to check on the eggs only check on her 2-3x in a day to remove egg shells, make sure chicks are ok, and to remove any eggs that stink.

 

[762]

The chicks still in the eggs may have died before trying to even hatch, so it may not of been your hens fault. Sometimes I’ll have eggs that do the same thing, crumble a little. It’ll be ok to leave those eggs even though they’re cracked as long as it’s hatch day. If it’s not close to hatch day you can put a piece of tape over the cracked part. Sometimes the eggs will crumble like that is the shell is weak.
In my opinion if you do have a broody hen and you want to check on the eggs only check on her 2-3x in a day to remove egg shells, make sure chicks are ok, and to remove any eggs that stink.

They were fully formed…I dunno.

But last night when we were checking her there was one that had just hatched. Very floppy, unable to stand which is normal for just hatched. Well, it was dead this morning. I mean, I dunno how it’s supposed to work with breathing air under there, but I feel like it suffocated under her.

When I lifted her up this morning, one of the two hatched and fluffy chicks fell out of her fluff like it was stuck.

Anyway, at what point do I need to help with getting the new chicks food and water if I don’t see them moving out from under mom to feed and drink? I have both food and water available to them now.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

They were fully formed…I dunno.

But last night when we were checking her there was one that had just hatched. Very floppy, unable to stand which is normal for just hatched. Well, it was dead this morning. I mean, I dunno how it’s supposed to work with breathing air under there, but I feel like it suffocated under her.

When I lifted her up this morning, one of the two hatched and fluffy chicks fell out of her fluff like it was stuck.

Anyway, at what point do I need to help with getting the new chicks food and water if I don’t see them moving out from under mom to feed and drink? I have both food and water available to them now.

chicks are still absorbing their yolk after they hatch. so they may no come out to eat yet. they hen will take the chicks out to eat when theyer ready.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

when you use a hen, its a part of natural selection. The strongest chicks get to live.

 

[762]

Well I’m learning the hard way. We are trying to preserve the genetics of a rooster we had to put down. Probably a better approach would have been to use an incubator and once the chicks were hatched and moving well, then move them under a broody sitting on fake eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Broody hens don't need to learn anything. They have been hatching chicks using pure instincts since before they were first domesticated thousands of years ago. As with any living animal bad things can happen, life does not come with a guarantee. Sometimes a broody hen might get something wrong because their instinct may not be perfect, but the vast majority of the time the broody hens get it right. I find the more I interfere the more harm I cause.

Not every egg will hatch. That is just the way it is. Many won't develop to start with. Some can die anytime during development, even as they are hatching. It could be something like a birth defect, could be something else.

The way you describe the appearance of those two eggs makes me think of something else though. With the shell crumbled away, one with the membrane intact and one with the membrane broken, it sounds like the hen may have been defending her nest, maybe against a snake, rat, or dog or maybe another hen. I trust you didn't have a kid sticking a hand in there. Rarely but sometimes a hen will kill her own chicks or some of her own chicks, those instincts aren't always perfect. Those would be my top suspects. When a hen goes ballistic defending her babies she can damage eggs or even chicks.

I don't know what happened to that hatch. I have no reason to think you did anything wrong, sometimes things just don't go perfectly. That is part of life.