Broody hen rejected early chick

[Little Tala Bug]

Hi all!

I posted a few days ago about my hen, Henrietta, going missing for a couple weeks, only to be found with a clutch of eggs.

They are meant to hatch tomorrow, but one hatched this morning. It has a very small amount of unbroken yellow yolk sack protruding from its backside but otherwise looks fine.

Problem is, Henrietta attacked it and drew blood from its head. None of the other eggs have started hatching yet, and she is currently sitting on the nest again after a short break to stretch her legs, drink, and bathe.

I don't have an incubator because this was a hidden nest that we found a few days ago so we weren't expecting it. I put the chick in a cup in a box with a heat mat underneath and a towel on top.

Presuming it survives until dark, would it be advisable to try to slip it under her at night? Is it normal for hens to reject chicks that are too early? Would it cause her to reject or abandon the rest? I have seen mixed opinions on what to do and would love to hear from your experiences.

Mom is most likely a Crested Cream Legbar, if that information is relevant. She has 13 eggs under her at the moment, all hers. I'm not interested in buying an incubator or brooder at the moment, and in general I would like to let nature take its course without major interventions. I am up for minor interventions if they have a reasonable chance of success or are for the greater good of the flock.

 

[SueT]

You could try slipping it in at night—it will be interesting to see how that goes, keep us updated

 

[Little Tala Bug]

You could try slipping it in at night—it will be interesting to see how that goes, keep us updated

Will definitely be posting updates... anything to distract me from worrying about the babies!

Chick is still alive and peeping so the heat mat seems to be working. It is still nestling in the little cup. I'm worried that putting him under her tonight might compromise the other eggs if she panics and tramples them.

Do you know if that poses a significant risk? As much as it pains me to have this little helpless chick, it would be devastating to ruin the chances for the other 13 eggs.

 

[SueT]

I don’t know. Maybe wait till the others are hatching? Maybe some others w experience in this will chime in.

 

[RochelleT]

Someone I follow found that her broody hen was pushing the newly hatched chicks into the corner of the nest box. She ended up putting the chick back under the hen and checking on it frequently. When they checked at dusk, the chick was still okay, but she fully expected the chick to be dead in the morning, but the chick was fine and the hen was trying to get the chick to eat.

I might try this if I let another broody hen hatch eggs.

 

[picklestheduck]

I personally would not give the chick back to the hen. If she attacked it once, and drew blood from its head, she’s likely to attack again. She very well may attack all the others as well so I would keep an eye on her. If I were you I would keep the chick separate until the others hatch, and if she accepts the others you could give her back, but if she doesn’t accept any of them, just take them and put them in a brooder.

 

[Wubba]

It's now Thursday... what happened?? Any updates??

 

[Little Tala Bug]

It's now Thursday... what happened?? Any updates??

Yes actually!

Henrietta hatched out 7 healthy chicks on her own 24 hours after the first rejected chick came out. She accepted them just fine.

We tended to the rejected chick to the point it was strong enough to rejoin the flock. The head wound it sustained from being rejected healed up quickly after we put a bit of disinfectant on it, and then It absorbed the rest of the yolk in the first day. Today, when the chicks were scratching around with Henrietta in our lovely new run for the hatchlings, we popped it in amongst its siblings and she seemed none the wiser.

Two chicks unfortunately died during the hatching process. One other chick hatched and got a piece of straw from the nest lodged in its throat so she pushed it out of the nest. We got to that chick in time to save it and it is happily running around in our makeshift brooder box until tomorrow when it will join its siblings.

Three unhatched eggs were abandoned when Henrietta decided to leave the nest. One of the eggs was unfertilised, the other two were peeping loudly. One of them hatched last night in the brooder and is getting strong with the chick we saved from choking on straw. The other egg started to hatch this evening so we have left it in the brooder box to see if we are successful again.

Hopefully by tomorrow we can put 3 more healthy chicks in with their mom and have a little brood of 11 peeps running around. I'll update again with pictures soon!

 

[Little Tala Bug]

The other egg hatched! The chick looks healthy, so I'll let it get its land legs in the brooder and put all three out together when they are ready. I'm absolutely ecstatic!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

What a great outcome! Thanks for keeping us updated.