Baby chick getting stuck to mama hen

[girls and guineas]

I had the most unusual and awful thing happen to 1 baby chick!! I hadn't seen 1 of the babies, so I picked up the mama hen, and the little baby chick was stuck to mama's feathers!! I guess a little poo from mama got stuck in baby's feathers! It pulled some of her feathers out, and some stuck up! I used water to clean it. The mama and other chicks were pecking at her feathers that were sticking up/out. She was weak and wobbly at first, because she was stuck all night, but she is doing much better now!! I think she is going to be all right!! Never heard/or thought of such a thing!! Anyone else have this problem???

 

[gander007]

I had the most unusual and awful thing happen to 1 baby chick!! I hadn't seen 1 of the babies, so I picked up the mama hen, and the little baby chick was stuck to mama's feathers!! I guess a little poo from mama got stuck in baby's feathers! It pulled some of her feathers out, and some stuck up! I used water to clean it. The mama and other chicks were pecking at her feathers that were sticking up/out. She was weak and wobbly at first, because she was stuck all night, but she is doing much better now!! I think she is going to be all right!! Never heard/or thought of such a thing!! Anyone else have this problem???

Oh thank you that was good and no in all my years doing this never have I see anything like that I really hope the chick is doing good .....

 

[girls and guineas]

Mama Marmalade is a frizzle, so she has lots of puffy, curly feathers that may be causing the problem! Tonight again the little one was tangled in Mama's feathers. I see that Marmalade has a lot of her feathers pulled off her breast--guess broody mothers do that!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I've had this happen a couple of times, with one particular Silkie of mine. None of my other hens have had this problem, so I dunno. Also, it doesn't happen with every brood she raises either, for example, her current brood hasn't had any issues.

So, what to do about it? Well, I gave my broody hen a bath to untangle her feathers. Just a quick one (chicks were placed in a brooder with heat lamp) with a blow dry after. They seem to get stuck in her butt/leg fluff, so that's the area I concentrate on most.

Its not common thing, but it does happen occasionally.

And yes, broodies missing breast feathers is very normal. They pluck them so their skin can make contact with the eggs and chicks, which keeps them toasty warm.

Good luck with your broody. you don't get anymore stuck chickies!

 

[Jennschics]

I just came here to ask if this has ever happened! I just pulled a 4 day old batam chick from being dragged around the coop because she was stuck in the rear end of my broody silkie! Had I not checked on them I'm am sure she would have been dead

. Having chicks is brutal. We've lost 4 so far to falling or being squished.
I may have to seperate mama hen from babies if we lose any more.

 

[sonjap]

Wow, this just happened to me yesterday only it was too late. Mama must have been stepping on the poor thing before I saw it. I had no idea that could happen. Needless to say Mama got a bath right away.
It's probably not very common, but I wish I had known that could happen and I would have cleaned her up before. She didn't look that bad, but I guess it was just enough.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

This just happened to me as well... Unfortunately the chick died.

The only thing I could figure out was that the chick, while nestling into its mother's feathers, got its head caught within those feathers which must have been (or become) stuck with some sort of substance- I'm not sure what. When I let out the mother hen with the chicks, I could see its body hanging from hers, just under her wing. It was a very disgusting and sad sight to see. Such a freak accident- I wondered if anyone else had this happen, decided to look it up on the web and found this page.

It was very difficult for me to pull apart the stuck feathers in which this chick's head was caught in. It either had chocked to death or that the mother hen in fussing with it, shook it so hard that it's neck got broken.. maybe both things, who knows. I don't have a clue what the sticky substance could have been- maybe just another chick's droppings? But since not even I could rip the stuck feathers apart, I'm sure neither mother or chick could either... in fact the mother hen, with her beak, had picked and pulled out some of the intestine of the chick to try and pull the chick off of her.... sorry to be so gruesome, just wanting to state the facts of what happened.

It was just a real sad occurrence I hope never to see again. One thinks of chicks being safe under mother hens. )-:

 

[nineisdivine]

This exact thing just happened to me! I heard very loud chirping and the mama bird was clucking and walking in circles with four of her five babies surrounding her. I saw right away that one was missing and started to panic, looking in piles of pine shavings. And then I saw it! The tiny baby was stuck to the back of mama! It took me a minute to get the baby bird off -- I was so afraid it was injured too! But the baby seems fine. Fortunately I was right there when it happened and was able to save the chick. Mama is a frizzled sizzle and her babies are 3-day old banties. Crazy!!

 

[artsyrobin]

old thread i know, but has anyone tried washing mama hen and putting hair conditioner in to keep the feathers from tangling? or maybe oil? had that happen today, and luckily the hen is an experienced mama and stayed still waiting for me to come rescue the baby

 

[dunnmom]

I just had this happen. The chick was stuck to mamas belly feathers with egg yolk. I figured it was a chick that was born without first absorbing the whole yolk. I can hardly fault the mama, even though she was a first time setter. I knew as soon as I saw it the chick was dead, so I grabbed it real quick, yanked it off, and wrapped it in a towel so as not to stress her out more than I had to. She's caring for 8 chicks already.