Chicks killed upon hatching!

[Katzie]

I have a real problem! I have 6 hens that have all gone broody and are trying to lay on the same eggs. The nesting box will accommodate all of the hens so I put some eggs under each hen. Whenever an chicks hatches out of their egg, the hens kill it. What can I do?? I tried moving the hens to separate nesting boxes but they just will go right back to the original nesting box and sit on another hen if necessary. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[Chicken Cryptid]

Perhaps separate them into a separate, temporary, pen. I’m not sure what else to do in your situation! D:

 

[AllenK RGV]

I have had this same situation occur on many occasions with multiple hens brooding. I have to remove all but one broody at day 18 as they all think they are theirs and kill the chicks fighting over them.

 

[Katzie]

Perhaps separate them into a separate, temporary, pen. I’m not sure what else to do in your situation! D:

Thank you for your advice. We have another coop that I have another hen and her two chicks in right now. I tried moving one of the broods there by she abandoned the eggs and ran back to the other coop. I guess I will lock her in!

 

[Katzie]

I have had this same situation occur on many occasions with multiple hens brooding. I have to remove all but one broody at day 18 as they all think they are theirs and kill the chicks fighting over them.

Crazy hens! Good advice, I will just kick them all out of the coop except for one of them. Of course, there about 16 fertile eggs in there!

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Sad I hope you don't lose all the babies. Hope it works out with the one girl. I'm glad you decided to kick everyone else out instead of trying to move her.

 

[coach723]

This is why, when I have a hen go broody and I'm going to let her sit, I move her at the beginning to a separate area. I put up temporary fencing in my covered run with a crate for her nest. She can sit and hatch undisturbed for the duration. If more than one goes broody then I would either do the same for them, or choose one to sit and break the rest. It's just worth it to me to avoid the drama (and heartbreak) of losing chicks this way. And by moving them at the beginning, you are less likely to upset the hatch and have her off the nest when she most needs to be there.

 

[AllenK RGV]

I enjoy having the multi's sit initially, but always mark the calendar. In my case I have broodies break early but by the time the eggs will start chirping I have to whittle em down to one. Also I didn't mark my very first eggs so I wasn't removing new ones. Oh well the mistakes most of us make when we are new.

 

[Katzie]

This is why, when I have a hen go broody and I'm going to let her sit, I move her at the beginning to a separate area. I put up temporary fencing in my covered run with a crate for her nest. She can sit and hatch undisturbed for the duration. If more than one goes broody then I would either do the same for them, or choose one to sit and break the rest. It's just worth it to me to avoid the drama (and heartbreak) of losing chicks this way. And by moving them at the beginning, you are less likely to upset the hatch and have her off the nest when she most needs to be there.

I agree with you, next time I will separate her quickly. It is upsetting. I have chosen 2 hens and separated them from each other and everyone else.

 

[Katzie]

I enjoy having the multi's sit initially, but always mark the calendar. In my case I have broodies break early but by the time the eggs will start chirping I have to whittle em down to one. Also I didn't mark my very first eggs so I wasn't removing new ones. Oh well the mistakes most of us make when we are new.

I did mark the eggs so I would know which ones are viable. The problem is I didn't date them so who know when they will hatch! I let more than one go broody because the viable egg count kept going up. Live and learn.