Broody eating chicks

[marmaset]

Morning everyone, I have a first time broody Light Sussex sitting on 5 firtile eggs. This morning I found an open egg and when I checked under her there was a just hatched chick. On returning 10 mins later I found her eating something. On further investigation to my horror I found it was the new chick. Dead of course. Do they eat their young if they are weeklings. I wasn't expecting any hatchlings for another two days, the eggs were old but I thought I would give the mum something to sit on. I have now removed her and given the eggs to a silkie who was a great mum last year. I don;t know if she will hatch them only being a day or two to go. Is this normal for hens to eat their chicks or is it because they were different breeds of eggs.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That is not normal behaviors. I wouldn't use that hen to hatch ever again. What are you feeding her? She could be protein deficient. There are hens that don't understand what a chick is after it hatches and they will kill them. Being broody doesn't guarantee a hen is a good mom.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Reminds me of my 2 pet rabbits as a kid. First of all, we all thought they were both boys..... well, you know the rest. Anyway, came home from school to find Momma Rabbit chomping on little babies as snacks!

 

[Aunt Angus]

That must have been awful to see (both OP's hen and Shamo's rabbits). I hope your silkie hatches them for you. I'm so sorry!

 

[marmaset]

Thanks for your reply everyone. I feed my hens layer pellets, scratch grain, greens, oatmeal, yoghurt, and all food scraps.
My Silkie is happily sitting on the rest so I will keep you updated.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks for your reply everyone. I feed my hens layer pellets, scratch grain, greens, oatmeal, yoghurt, and all food scraps.
My Silkie is happily sitting on the rest so I will keep you updated.

If you are feeding layer that is 16% protein you shouldn't be giving extra stuff as it will dilute the overall daily protein intake which will cause deficiencies. Minimum requirements are 16% so either cut out all extras or feed a higher protein ration at 18-20% and limit extras. Protein is very important so birds are seeking it out from other sources like eggs and each other.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Shamo- thank you for the rabbit story, not.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Marmaset- good luck with the rest of your eggs!

 

[marmaset]

Thanks for the feeding information. I will check the feed bag to see the protein percentage.They prefer to eat other food to pellets, but always seem hungry so I leave a container of pellets for them to access when they are really hungry. On a better note my Silkie hatched two healthy chicks and so all I can hope for is they are not roos.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

From my own experience...I had a hen that did this three times in a row before finally being culled for health reasons. She never seemed to mature and no matter what I tried to keep her stress free and well nourished in later attempts, she ate almost every egg put under her in the days leading up to hatch. This includes also eating them as soon as they hatched. If she keeps it up, as much as I know you may want her to hatch some biddies, consider NOT letting her sit on eggs.