Broody problems

[CashewVulture]

I have 3 broody hens who have been sitting on eggs for 20+ days. Two were sitting on nothing and one was sitting on 5 eggs. Today they started hatching and the hen with the 5 eggs decided to brutally peck her first chick. She was cool with it until it had completely finished hatching, then she started attacking. This isn’t my first time with agressive broodies so I recognized the bad behavior quickly and grabbed the chick. No worries, I’ll just give it to my other chicken moms…or so I thought. I tried to give the chick to my two others (who are brooding together) and they also were frightened by it and pecked it.

What now? I have 3 broodies who have sat on nests for 3+ weeks and they won’t accept chicks? I’m confused!

I set a small last minute brooder box in my room for now… but should I give up hope on trying to introduce the chick to the moms? How should I introduce it to them? At night? Or maybe they all just hate this one particular chick???

The other eggs are in an incubator now, 2 had started hatching but got shrink wrapped since my main broody hopped off the nest while they were hatching. I should be able to save them. They still have some red veins so I will wait before assisting.

Note: all broodies are first time moms and are 1 year old. My main one, was actually raised by a broody herself, so it’s kind of suprising that she’s agressive.

 

[Debbie292d]

First time broodies are so unpredictable.

I'm not sure I'd try at night unless you're up early to go check in the morning. Otherwise, once they've dried off in the incubator, I'd wait a day before trying. That way they have a little more strength to run if needed.

 

[CashewVulture]

First time broodies are so unpredictable.

I'm not sure I'd try at night unless you're up early to go check in the morning. Otherwise, once they've dried off in the incubator, I'd wait a day before trying. That way they have a little more strength to run if needed.

Thanks. Good idea. I’ll wait until they’re dried and are more active. Hopefully later tomorrow. I’m crossing my fingers that at least one of them will accept I really don’t want to break 3 broodies all at once and be stuck with indoor chicks.

 

[CashewVulture]

Well I tried again today and…it worked! She seems to be a rough mom since she pecks them quite a lot but the pecks are gentle, she seems to be pecking them so they go under her. She also made the classic mom to chick communication so I decided to let them stay with her. They slept under her almost all day and are okay. She hasn’t called them for food yet but we will see tomorrow. She just seems inexperienced but not killer.

 

[CashewVulture]

Hi again everyone. So she accepted the chicks fully. She loves them so much and calls them for food and everything. But I have a different problem now. In all 3 chicks, 1 died this morning and 1 died this afternoon. They were all weak and didn’t want to explore or eat, they only wanted to sleep. I’ve never had chicks just die like that. They all died with no injuries.

There’s only one left and I’m afraid it might die too. It was the most lively of them all but still weak and only wants to sleep. I really don’t want my hen to lose all her chicks.

I suspect lice were the cause of death because the chicks were absolutely infested near the head and neck area. I didn’t notice in time. With the remaining chick I gave it coconut water for electrolytes and sprayed lice/mite spray on it’s head.

Can lice infested chicks just die like this? I have no other explanation for why they would drop dead like that but on the other hand I’ve had other broodies in the past who had lice on their chicks. I simply removed the lice and sprayed them, but they never got lethargic even though they were infested.

 

[Karlkurla Chooks]

Hi again everyone. So she accepted the chicks fully. She loves them so much and calls them for food and everything. But I have a different problem now. In all 3 chicks, 1 died this morning and 1 died this afternoon. They were all weak and didn’t want to explore or eat, they only wanted to sleep. I’ve never had chicks just die like that. They all died with no injuries.

There’s only one left and I’m afraid it might die too. It was the most lively of them all but still weak and only wants to sleep. I really don’t want my hen to lose all her chicks.

I suspect lice were the cause of death because the chicks were absolutely infested near the head and neck area. I didn’t notice in time. With the remaining chick I gave it coconut water for electrolytes and sprayed lice/mite spray on it’s head.

Can lice infested chicks just die like this? I have no other explanation for why they would drop dead like that but on the other hand I’ve had other broodies in the past who had lice on their chicks. I simply removed the lice and sprayed them, but they never got lethargic even though they were infested.

I am pleased that your broody hen has proved to be a great mother, however I am saddened by the deaths of two of your chicks.

Unfortunately I don't know why two of the chicks died. All I can advise is that if the third chick dies, consider buying some newly hatched vaccinated chicks (must be under 1 week old) and give them to your broody hen at night when all are sleepy - place them carefully underneath her.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi again everyone. So she accepted the chicks fully. She loves them so much and calls them for food and everything. But I have a different problem now. In all 3 chicks, 1 died this morning and 1 died this afternoon. They were all weak and didn’t want to explore or eat, they only wanted to sleep. I’ve never had chicks just die like that. They all died with no injuries.

There’s only one left and I’m afraid it might die too. It was the most lively of them all but still weak and only wants to sleep. I really don’t want my hen to lose all her chicks.

I suspect lice were the cause of death because the chicks were absolutely infested near the head and neck area. I didn’t notice in time. With the remaining chick I gave it coconut water for electrolytes and sprayed lice/mite spray on it’s head.

Can lice infested chicks just die like this? I have no other explanation for why they would drop dead like that but on the other hand I’ve had other broodies in the past who had lice on their chicks. I simply removed the lice and sprayed them, but they never got lethargic even though they were infested.

Gosh, so sorry about those two chicks!

Lice don't suck blood like mites do. Are you sure they didn't have mites?

They were a little too young to get coccidiosis, which is the most common cause for death in chicks. They generally are a couple of weeks old or more, though, when they can get it.

I would get some permethrin/garden powder and sprinkle all over where that hen sits, and perhaps do your entire coop too. You could put a little on the chick as well unless it's free of them from what you used.

Maybe they weren't getting to the food/water?

 

[CashewVulture]

Lice don't suck blood like mites do. Are you sure they didn't have mites?

What do mites look like? All I know is that I saw a bunch of chicken head lice on the chick heads. I could also see a couple other lice varieties squirming on them.

Maybe they weren't getting to the food/water?

I also asked myself this but since they were still really young, wouldn’t they still be okay due to the egg yolk they absorbed before hatching? WhenI noticed they looked tired, I dipped their beaks in water. One of them even drank by itself after that. I never saw any of them eat though. But since their mom kept calling them for food and they didn’t want to come out, I don’t think it’s because of hunger.

Update: last chick died overnight as well. Now my poor broody has no chicks. I really feel bad for her. Even worse, my 2 other broody hens still are determined to hatch and I don’t even have chicks for them. I couldn’t give them new eggs to hatch..they’ve already been sitting for almost a month!

 

[Debbie292d]

Well darn it! Sorry! Boy I wish I knew what went wrong there. Maybe she did peck them just a little too hard. First time hens have been known to even murder their chicks. Then when they hatch after that, never a problem. I'd say try again and don't get discouraged.

I also asked myself this but since they were still really young, wouldn’t they still be okay due to the egg yolk they absorbed before hatching?

Yes, they can live 72 hours (3 days) without food/water due to absorbing the yolk. That's how hatcheries are able to ship day-old chicks. But when I take mine from the incubator to the brooder, that's been maybe 12/24 hours and they go nuts over the chick crumbles scattered on their paper towels.

 

[CashewVulture]

Boy I wish I knew what went wrong there. Maybe she did peck them just a little too hard. First time hens have been known to even murder their chicks. Then when they hatch after that, never a problem. I'd say try again and don't get discouraged.

I’m pretty sure it’s not because of that though. Because only the 1st chick got pecked in the beginning and then when I reintroduced them the next day she started really becoming a mother and I could tell by her body language and sounds that she understood the chicks were hers. I even supervised for almost a whole day when I reintroduced them. When she went outside with them, she just called them and let them crawl under her. She only pecked them gently to help them under her.

The other reason I am pretty sure she had nothing to do with this is also because last year I had a agressive hen towards her chicks and she ended up pecking two of them hard until I saved them but they both survived without any treatment and became healthy roosters.


I’m really stumped as to why they died. Could bacteria from a broken egg do this? My hen accidentally broke a developing egg a week before hatch day and some substance got over the other eggs.

I’ve had other broodies in the past do this too and no chicks got infected though.

Should I let my broody hen sit on eggs another 3 weeks? She seems to still be interested in sitting on eggs. I would let her, but I’m worried about her own health and well being.