Broody Hens eggs hatching a day at a time. Broody killed one chick.

[PDXModChick]

My young lady decided she wanted to set on some eggs. I moved her to her own home after about a week of her being in with the other hens.

I think some new eggs got mixed in with the bunch.

Thursday of last week I found my first two birds. I also found a dead one. I took them away since she had killed the one and let her set on the rest of the eggs.

The next day I found another one I brought her in to be with the other two.

Now it is Sunday, two days since I found a chick and there is another one out there hatched. She still has about 5 eggs left in her clutch.

Should I take away the newborn and bring her in with the others? Or shoudl I take away the rest of the clutch and give her back the three in the house?

Can I even give her back the chicks I took away, will she accept them?

I am new to this chick hatching business so your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[chicks4kids]

I would take it away and put it with the other chicks. With 5 more eggs to go it would be terrible if she decided to get up and tend to the chick.

 

[PDXModChick]

I should specify that she accidenatlly killed one. It was not attacked or eaten, but smothered.

 

[dianneS]

When I've had hens on nests of eggs laid at different times, I always take them from her as they hatch. If you don't, she could hatch one chick and hop off the nest to tend to it and allow the other eggs to get cold and the chicks die.

I've never tried giving the chicks back to her. If I were to attempt it, I would wait until she's down to one or two eggs, wait for one to hatch and while she's still on the nest with that chick, try putting the other chicks under her. See how she reacts. If she's okay with them, leave her be until she decides to get off of the nest with all of the chicks. If she pecks at the chicks when you try to give them to her, you'll have to raise them yourself.

I think if you wait until she hatches her last chick herself and give her the other chicks, only a few days older, before she leaves the nest, the odds of her accepting all of them are pretty good. If you give them to her at night, that might work too. She may just think she hatched a few more during the night!

 

[PDXModChick]

I am happy to hear I have been doing the right thing. Since this is my first time around I made ebery mistake I could possibly make.

Thank you all for your help with my situation.