Could hen still be broody immediately after hatching and killing all of her chicks???

[Mayonnaise83]

I have a black copper marans who recently went broody for the first time so I gave her 6 eggs. She successfully hatched 5 of them and then the next day she killed them all. When I found them she was still sitting on the nest because there were still two eggs under her that were laid by other hens a day or two before hatch day. I took those eggs from her so she got up out of the nest and paced around looking at her dead chicks while looking confused. I took the chicks and left the coop to go dispose of them, and when I came back a while later she was out “chickening” with the others like nothing happened, so it seemed as if she was totally fine and back to normal…except that she still kept sleeping in the nest at night. I figured it was just out of habit so I have been moving her to the roosting bars every single night since then but she’s still doing it. And not only that but she seems to have started plucking her chest feathers out again. Could she be broody again immediately after hatching eggs? Or could she STILL be broody even though she doesn’t sit during the day? Obviously I’m not going to give her any more eggs to hatch and so I would love to get her back to laying those beautiful chocolate brown eggs as soon as she is able, I’m not sure what to think or do at this point.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Not every broody hen knows what chicks are and what to do with them. The urge to brood is driven by hormones. The ability to mother seems to be be hit and miss.

I would break her and never let her set again unless you plan to pull the chicks. She will probably go broody again so setting up a breaking cage is a good idea if you have the room. Sorry about your chicks. It can be frustrating. I think we all run into this type of hen if we hatch enough times with broody hens.

 

[Mayonnaise83]

Not every broody hen knows what chicks are and what to do with them. The urge to brood is driven by hormones. The ability to mother seems to be be hit and miss.

I would break her and never let her set again unless you plan to pull the chicks. She will probably go broody again so setting up a breaking cage is a good idea if you have the room. Sorry about your chicks. It can be frustrating. I think we all run into this type of hen if we hatch enough times with broody hens.

Yes I agree…like I said, I’m not going to let her hatch chicks any more in the future. I’m just asking if it’s possible she could be broody still or again so soon after she hatched chicks, OR if she’s just being stubborn about where she wants to sleep. I don’t want to hassle with trying to break her if she’s not even broody in the first place. Anyone have any insight or experience that might help?

 

[Mayonnaise83]

Oh…and I forgot to add that it has now been two weeks since she hatched her chicks.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Yes. I had a cochin Bantam do this

 

[Mayonnaise83]

Yes. I had a cochin Bantam do this

Okay good to know! Then I will assume she is probably broody and try to break her. Thanks!!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

It takes a few days for broody hormones to dissipate, whether a hen is taken to "broody jail", her eggs don't hatch, or in your case the broody kills her chicks. But since it's been two weeks since her chicks hatched, any lingering hormones should be long gone by now. Is she exhibiting classic broody behaviors like walking around clucking with her feathers all poofed out? If not, then she has probably just decided a nest box is a cozier place to sleep. As far as plucking her breast feathers, broodys do go through a mini-molt after their hormones cease, so that could be the reason she is losing breast feathers. But to directly answer your question is it Possible she is going broody again? Yes it is possible, but not likely.

As an aside, are you positive she killed her chicks? Obviously "something"did, but I was just curious if you know with certainty that it was momma hen?

 

[Mayonnaise83]

It takes a few days for broody hormones to dissipate, whether a hen is taken to "broody jail", her eggs don't hatch, or in your case the broody kills her chicks. But since it's been two weeks since her chicks hatched, any lingering hormones should be long gone by now. Is she exhibiting classic broody behaviors like walking around clucking with her feathers all poofed out? If not, then she has probably just decided a nest box is a cozier place to sleep. As far as plucking her breast feathers, broodys do go through a mini-molt after their hormones cease, so that could be the reason she is losing breast feathers. But to directly answer your question is it Possible she is going broody again? Yes it is possible, but not likely.

As an aside, are you positive she killed her chicks? Obviously "something"did, but I was just curious if you know with certainty that it was momma hen?

Great info…thanks!!

I’m not 100% positive because I didn’t see it happen. However I’m probably about 98% positive and here’s my reasoning:

I did observe her with a couple chicks on hatch day and I remember thinking that she was sometimes kinda harsh with her pecking/scolding when they came out from under her, so my assumption is that she continued to be too aggressive with them.

Also, when I found them dead they were in the nest with her still, which may or may not mean anything…I’m just thinking another critter would have taken off with one or more of them, or at least would have flung them around a bit.

Also, for the first time ever, I just recently hatched two clutches with two broody hens for and none of the rest of the flock bothered them, so my assumption is that they would act the same with this second round of chicks, but i suppose you never know. And the other two mamas and their chicks were in their own separate housing and so didn’t have access to the new mama and chicks.

I figure even if I’m wrong I already have two tried-and-true mamas that I can use to hatch chicks in the future so there’s no need to use this one in the future.

 

[Mayonnaise83]

It takes a few days for broody hormones to dissipate, whether a hen is taken to "broody jail", her eggs don't hatch, or in your case the broody kills her chicks. But since it's been two weeks since her chicks hatched, any lingering hormones should be long gone by now. Is she exhibiting classic broody behaviors like walking around clucking with her feathers all poofed out? If not, then she has probably just decided a nest box is a cozier place to sleep. As far as plucking her breast feathers, broodys do go through a mini-molt after their hormones cease, so that could be the reason she is losing breast feathers. But to directly answer your question is it Possible she is going broody again? Yes it is possible, but not likely.

As an aside, are you positive she killed her chicks? Obviously "something"did, but I was just curious if you know with certainty that it was momma hen?

Oh…and to answer your other question, no she is not exhibiting any other broody behaviors other than feathers in the nesting box and sleeping in it at night.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I agree there's no reason to risk her harming future chicks since you now have two proven good broodies. However, to defend your BCM for a moment, it's perfectly normal for a hen to appear "aggressive" to her new chicks as she teaches them to stay under her/near her for safety and warmth, since newly hatched chicks are completely innocent and clueless. I'm not saying she didn't do it. But before I knew better, I blamed some broodies for dead chicks and later realized they didn't do it.