Broody hen offered newly hatched chick to flock

[Prospero]

My broody Australorp chicken has been sitting on her fertile eggs for while and one chick finally hatched today, this occurred whilst I was away, I had noticed in the morning the egg had a hole in it signifying the chick was ready to come out, when I came back in the night my parents had told me that the hen had pecked the shell of that egg and pulled the baby chick out and gave it to the rest of the flock (2 hens and 1 rooster) and they just ate it. WHYYYYY!!!!???? What should I do?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How did you know there was a hole in the egg if it was under the broody hen?
They usually don't come off the nest when hatching is imminent.
I've never heard of a hen opening an egg and pulling a chick out. She's too busy covering the clutch to screw around like that.
The only thing I could imagine is that she knew it was dead. It is also possible it hopped out of the nest while she sat tight for the rest of the eggs and it got attacked without her protection.

Are you sure your parents don't mind that you end up with more chickens?

 

[Prospero]

She came off the nest and I had a glance at all the eggs and noticed one had a small hole in it, I check the egg and noticed that there was a live chick inside and put it back, I came back home a few hours later and my parents told me what had happened and yes my parents don't mind.

 

[lazy gardener]

Several things could have come into play here:

1. the chick was defective. Flock behavior seems brutal. But, if there is a defective chick or bird, survival mode dictates that that flock member be evicted from the flock so it does not draw predators. Often, that defective animal will be canibalized so the protein can be put to good use.

2. the broody hen has a screw loose. Broodiness has been bred out of many hatchery birds. The instinctive behavior may be completely missing, or only partly missing. A hen may set for only a few days. She may set until the eggs start to pip and then she hears the chicks. (I had one such hen who sat very well, but she abandoned the nest when chicks started to hatch. She was enamored with the idea of sitting on eggs, but not at all willing to mother those noisy bits of fluff!) She may complete the hatch, but not be able to effectively mother the chicks. Or she may turn on her chicks and eat them.

 

[junebuggena]

Not every broody hen is cut out for motherhood. And sometimes it takes them a few tries to figure out what they are supposed to do once those chicks hatch. Sounds like she left the nest too soon and the flock found the hatching chick

 

[BoyTheRooster]

Some hens just aren't good mothers. How are the rest of her eggs/chicks doing?