Cannibal Mom & Baby

[Jess_Donovan]

Hi! I have a first time mom and she hatched a beautiful chick. Problem is, her and her baby are eating chicks as they hatch. These are not unfertilized eggs, they are live baby chicks.

Is it safe for mom and baby to be introduced back into the flock after cannibalism or do they need to be culled? (hoping not, why I'm asking for advice!)

Note: The remaining eggs are now in an incubator and will not let her be a future mom. She's also had her own coop, food/water since she started sitting. Mom and baby are safe with room to move without stress of other flock members.

 

[sourland]

By any chance was this a staggered hatch? If so this may very well be the cause of the problem. If she had already imprinted on the first chick before the others hatched, they are regarded as intruders/competitors.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Oh my gosh, Jess. That's horrifying. You already made the smart decision to never let her hatch eggs again. I'd keep her away from others that are hatching as well. Aside from that, I don't see how it would be an ongoing problem. Going after a freshly hatched chick is a very specific experience that likely triggered her. Her baby won't remember the details; she was just going along with mom's instruction.

I'm really sorry that happened. Welcome to BYC, though. We're happy to have you here!

 

[Jess_Donovan]

By any chance was this a staggered hatch? If so this may very well be the cause of the problem. If she had already imprinted on the first chick before the others hatched, they are regarded as intruders/competitors.

It is/was a staggered hatch (completely my fault, my second “natural” hatching and still learning). Interesting that she may see them as intruders as she’s been very protective of her eggs. Thank you for the insight!

 

[Jess_Donovan]

Oh my gosh, Jess. That's horrifying. You already made the smart decision to never let her hatch eggs again. I'd keep her away from others that are hatching as well. Aside from that, I don't see how it would be an ongoing problem. Going after a freshly hatched chick is a very specific experience that likely triggered her. Her baby won't remember the details; she was just going along with mom's instruction.

I'm really sorry that happened. Welcome to BYC, though. We're happy to have you here!

It really was! Thank you for the kind and reassuring words. She's been a wonderful hen and would hate to lose her and her baby. Very happy to hear it won't be an ongoing problem.

 

[FunClucks]

I don't know what your comfort level would be with this suggestion, since you've had such a traumatic experience with this hen so far.

It might be possible that with a non-staggered hatch she would be a fine mom and not attack her chicks. Letting her sit on a non-staggered hatch is not an unreasonable thing to do. However, hens are supposed to welcome chicks within a 3 day time period from first to last chick hatching. If she was attacking within that time period, I would not let her sit again. Otherwise, you might try it. After 3 days, the hen will take all chicks hatched to that point and leave the nest / abandon the other eggs. If there are still viable eggs, you could incubate them and try and sneak them under her later at night or something, but no guarantees a hen would still take them. For this particular hen, I definitely wouldn't try it. Some hens love all chicks no matter the age. That's not the hen you have.

If you have other/better broodies or potential broodies, I'd suggest using them instead. But if this is your only broody or potentially broody hen, you might try her once more with a non-staggered hatch. Up to you. Wishing you luck!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens. This is a great place to explore and hang out. Hey I agree with the others just want to add hello.

 

[Jess_Donovan]

I don't know what your comfort level would be with this suggestion, since you've had such a traumatic experience with this hen so far.

It might be possible that with a non-staggered hatch she would be a fine mom and not attack her chicks. Letting her sit on a non-staggered hatch is not an unreasonable thing to do. However, hens are supposed to welcome chicks within a 3 day time period from first to last chick hatching. If she was attacking within that time period, I would not let her sit again. Otherwise, you might try it. After 3 days, the hen will take all chicks hatched to that point and leave the nest / abandon the other eggs. If there are still viable eggs, you could incubate them and try and sneak them under her later at night or something, but no guarantees a hen would still take them. For this particular hen, I definitely wouldn't try it. Some hens love all chicks no matter the age. That's not the hen you have.

If you have other/better broodies or potential broodies, I'd suggest using them instead. But if this is your only broody or potentially broody hen, you might try her once more with a non-staggered hatch. Up to you. Wishing you luck!

Thank you very much, this is incredible helpful feedback! My plan is to hand raise the incubated eggs, it was awful seeing the carnage. Maybe we (momma hen) will try again in the future - under a much more controlled environment. This has certainly been a learning experience.

 

[FunClucks]

So many times, chickens do things we don't expect. Good broodies do exist, many hens are good broodies. You just never know what they will individually do until you try them with something.

I wouldn't let that hen have the chicks back this time either. They can live perfectly healthy happy lives without knowing a mother chicken. I find mine are more attached to humans when they're brooder raised and we spend lots of time with them. So it's an opportunity for you to possibly have some really friendly chicks.

Welcome to BYC!!! There are a lot of great resources on here for almost anything you might wonder, and I've gotten a lot of support in my chickening journey from many members. If you haven't yet, check out the Articles section of the site - it has some awesome info in the Learning articles.

 

[Jess_Donovan]

So many times, chickens do things we don't expect. Good broodies do exist, many hens are good broodies. You just never know what they will individually do until you try them with something.

I wouldn't let that hen have the chicks back this time either. They can live perfectly healthy happy lives without knowing a mother chicken. I find mine are more attached to humans when they're brooder raised and we spend lots of time with them. So it's an opportunity for you to possibly have some really friendly chicks.

Welcome to BYC!!! There are a lot of great resources on here for almost anything you might wonder, and I've gotten a lot of support in my chickening journey from many members. If you haven't yet, check out the Articles section of the site - it has some awesome info in the Learning articles.

Thank you! And yes, I agree - I've seen a big difference between my brooder raised and hen raises chickens. Hen raised tends to be much more skittish.

This site is a wealth of knowledge, very thankful to have found it early on in my now 1.5 years of chicken raising!