Chick died- what to do with hen?

[literarychick]

Hi all,

We are so sad because we had a chick die today. Our Silkie hatched it and she was SUCH a good mother. But the chick fell off the side of the ramp into the coop and its foot got stuck in the wire. I don't know how long it hung there--last night when I checked, Mama was in the nesting box so I assumed chick was under her.

Anyway, what should we do with Mama? Should we put her back in with the rest of the flock? Should we keep her separate still? Should we put more eggs in the nesting box, hoping she'll go broody again? Should we wait and see if she'll go broody on her own again and let her hatch more eggs?

We really wanted this chick. This was a freak accident and we are devastated. Obviously we will be making some changes to the "nursery" to prevent this from happening again. My five-year-old doesn't know yet. I don't want to tell her.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Eggcessive]

How old was the chick? If it was just a couple of days old, you could try to put a couple of baby chicks from your local farm store. Some have silkies this time of year. If not, then put her back with the others. If she starts acting broody immediately, you will need to break her. But more than likely, she will go about her normal routine. She will probably start laying eggs again in a couple of weeks, and if she is like most silkies, it won't be long before she is broody again. It is very sad, but those things happen. Sorry for your loss.