Broody Hen Confused

[BarredCometLaced]

Hey everyone!

You guys have always been there to help, so I'm calling on you for some advice.

For weeks we had a salmon faverolles sitting on a clutch of ceramic eggs. Late Monday night, we slipped in 4 less than a week old chicks under her. Everything seemed to be fine. She was not agitated and looked like she accepted them.

When I checked on her in the morning, she lifted off her nest , looked at the chicks, bristled and started attacking them! SOOOO, Into the brooder they went and Sally the Salmon faverolles was kicked off her nest.

Now, though, Sally the Faverolles and the chicks are acting strange. Sally will sit right up against the brooder and watch them and the smallest black chick randomly peeps loudly (seemingly to her). Despite this, she pecks madly at them if we try to introduce them to her.

This just did not go at all to plan Haha! SALLY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A MOM! *sighs* I wish I could communicate with her.

I guess this is more than a rant than a question lol. I just feel like I did everything right, and it still went so wrong. It's hard, especially after reading that hundreds of people swear a broody hen has never rejected chicks.

FEELING FRUSTRATED!

 

[Ridgerunner]

People swear all kinds of things. You are dealing with living animals, you just don't get guarantees on how any one individual will behave.

How old were those chicks? They may have been a bit too old. The younger they are the better chance this will work. That's the only possible flaw in your execution. And even then it occasionally works with older chicks.