Chicks severely pecked by mother

[dfchaser]

I had a hen go broody and put my eggs from the bator under her. They began hatching today. 4 were out of the shells when i got home and there was blood everywhere. The broody has pecked their heads and the spaces behind their eyes. I thought they were all dead, but after removing her and the remaining eggs i discovered they were alive, barely. I evaluated the chicks and after warming them up have placed 3 out of the 4 in the bator. 1 of them needed to be culled, as i could see brain matter (eww) 2 of the 3 i am not sure will make it, but I am going to give them a chance. What can i do for them to help them survive? The 3 that are left i could not see any brain matter, there is a concern for ones eye, i looks like she was trying to rip his little face off. If you need pictures I can get some up, its just not pretty, and rather sad.

 

[birdlover]

I am sooo sorry to hear that!! How long was your hen broody? If she was only broody a short time, chances are she wasn't in the motherly mode yet. I can't give you advice on helping the babies, unfortunately. I've never had to deal with this before. A couple of questions, though. Are the babies dried off? If so, I'd put them in a brooder instead of the incubator and make sure the temp is no hotter than 95 degrees under the light. They won't need food or water for a couple of days so let them rest and recover, although, if they start walking around, I'd have food and a very shallow dish of water in there for them to use. Hoping the best for your babies. PLEASE let us know how it goes, k??

 

[dfchaser]

She was only broody for 2 days, so that makes sense. hubby is very upset and blaming himself. 3 are up and about and dried off so they will be moving into the brooder shortly. We are not sure about one of them. one of his eye lids is pulled forward and its closing his eye. We have tried to get it back but we cannot. He is our questionable one right now. The other two are doing well, their injuries are much less severe.

 

[birdlover]

I'm glad to hear that, at least, two are doing okay. How is the third little one today? I hope she pulls through. Chances are the eye will heal itself over time. Sorry they had such a rough beginning but we've all made mistakes and learned from them.