Broody Hen Killed her Chicks?

[chickens really]

No ... They lead them to start foraging for feed.. Oh boy ...

 

[Lady of McCamley]

The chicks will also need chick feed (put everyone on it and provide oyster shell for layers). Layer feed will cause young chicks to have kidney problems.
Also avoid large water bowls. They will try to perch on the sides and drink only to fall in and drown. Use gravity flow water feeders that are shallow enough that a chick won't fall in and drown...but yet low enough they can reach.
LofMc

 

[chickens really]

Chicks never die in most cases if provided with the necessities of life...Broody Hens are fantastic mothers...

 

[centrarchid]

Based on OP's description, chicks where in poor health. The hen leaving nest alone after hatch consistent with imprinting of hen on chicks breaking down. Voice of chicks change as they decline with respect to physical ability. The voice change makes so hen no longer recognizes the chicks. The being smashed would be the result of chicks no longer able to give the "I am being smashed" alarm that gets hen to reposition herself so not to be smashing. Chicks should have followed her off the nest as well. Once chicks pip eggs, hen does not normally leave them alone even to eat or deficate. She puts off her needs for a good 24 to 72 hours.

Cause of chick health issue harder to determine. I have lost two broods to similar earlier in the spring. Both located in a high moisture, poorly ventilated area. Of 12 to 16 eggs in each nest, only about 2/3's actually hatched and most of those that did not had embryos that died within a day or two of hatching. Same hens / pullets cycling through a second time when bred to same rooster but nesting in a different location and doing just fine. Normally I do not attribute success rate of chicks to age of mother unless we are talking about how things progress after brood leaves nest.

I see this now and again and it does seem to be associated with hens nesting in locations where I think they cannot control incubation temperature and moisture as tightly.

 

[Greg0ry]

No, no, no. LOL. Sorry. (Easy misunderstanding to make)
Momma leads chicks to food and water. They eat and drink like adults.
If they can't follow, being too wobbly or confused (first few days), they will huddle in the nest cheeping...and die.
Sorry.
LofMc

Oh. My. God. I feel TERRIBLE!!! :'(

 

[Greg0ry]

Lady nailed it out of the park folks. The chicks were in perfect health. I've raised 50+ chickens from chicks. Just never had a hen be so broody before. I surround myself with nature, and I ASSUMED that a mother hen would feed her chicks the way all other birds do - but they do not. Each of those chicks died because of my ignorance. They just needed water and food nearby. :'(

 

[centrarchid]

Lady nailed it out of the park folks. The chicks were in perfect health. I've raised 50+ chickens from chicks. Just never had a hen be so broody before. I surround myself with nature, and I ASSUMED that a mother hen would feed her chicks the way all other birds do - but they do not. Each of those chicks died because of my ignorance. They just needed water and food nearby. :'(

No.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Thank you Lady. So then, hens do not feed their young like wild birds do in that case? I thought they would regurgitate nutrients for their young?

They don't regurgitate food, but they do pick up food with their beaks, place it on the ground and then make a sound and gesture with their beaks to tell the chicks that she has food for them. Even if the feeder is accessible to the chicks, she will do this to teach them to eat from it.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

In a wild state, with only the best genes surviving, hens are much more attune to chicks and vice versa. Wild type games hatch nests in obscure places. They will bolt straight in the air and fly far away to avoid leading predators to their nests. They build their nests close to water and food supplies. Those that don't; don't survive.

But we've been meddling with chicken genetics for centuries to get domesticated fowl. And, we've especially manipulated the genetics of hens to get better egg production at loss of broodiness.

Australorps are a commercially manipulated breed, and not one to normally go broody. No, they won't have the wild instinct of a jungle fowl, or even the more "heritage" types such as game nor of the more broody types such as Silkies and Cochins.

In the typical backyard situation, using typical brooding hens, you need to be a bit more on top of things to avoid stranded chicks. In nature, those hens who abandoned nests and those chicks who were not thrifty even in strenuous circumstances do not survive.

You can replicate that in the barnyard situation and let losses be where they may. If you seek long term sustainability for your flock, you may need to begin to approach that.

However, I have seen situations where young chicks are not able to follow a hen due to the incline of a ramp (not normal in nature) or a nesting box that has a high lip or some communal coop that is not completely ideal but the hen has been accustomed to use. That is a man made situation that the chicken keeper should be aware of for proper husbandry.

I stand by my convictions that it was likely poorly placed water for domesticated fowl, especially a first time Australorp mother.

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Lady nailed it out of the park folks. The chicks were in perfect health. I've raised 50+ chickens from chicks. Just never had a hen be so broody before. I surround myself with nature, and I ASSUMED that a mother hen would feed her chicks the way all other birds do - but they do not. Each of those chicks died because of my ignorance. They just needed water and food nearby. :'(

We all have made mistakes we regret with our chicken keeping.

I left a dog bowl with water in the run and drowned some nice healthy chicks under an attentive hen. I later saw how they perch on the side to drink, and must have fallen in. I have had chicks crushed in communal nest boxes that were vibrant healthy chicks....lesson learned...and yes, it is very sad to take out the crushed body of a chick with ribs sticking through the sides....and later watch how it happened as another hen comes in to sit on top of mother and babes.

Mother's fault? No. Mine. I've since used that mother very successfully in an more isolated nest where she recently hatched 9 out of 8 set eggs...she had sneaked an egg in her wing when I moved her...sly lady....all vibrant healthy chicks turning into strong pullets (and a few roos).

Live and learn. Farming can be a harsh teacher.
LofMc