Day old chicks attacked by broody hen

[juliebadams]

Two of our hens have gone broody, so we put 7 fertilized eggs underneath them. Three of the eggs hatched yesterday afternoon and seemed perfectly healthy. Today when we went to check on everyone, we noticed that one chick has an open wound on both sides of her head (definitely has been pecked) and another (the last to hatch) is wounded on her belly and surrounding area. (the third chick seems to be fine) The one that has the head wound is moving around and chirping quite a bit, and I'm assuming will be fine, but it's the Easter Egger I'm worried about. She can still move her eggs and flap her wings, but she is mostly flailing around. She also is not making any noise, mostly has her eyes shut and periodically opens and close her mouth (like a panting dog.) My questions are:

Is there anything I need to do for them? We removed them from the coop and will put them under a heat lamp, but I have read about cleaning the area with peroxide and adding ointment... are those things helpful/necessary?

Any ideas if the broody hen was the one trying to kill them - maybe she knows they aren't healthy, or something? Possibly it was the two hens fighting over the chicks??

Any suggestions would be great, thank you!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ve had eggs destroyed by two broodies fighting over them so yes, it is possible that the chicks were injured by the hens fighting. Occasionally a broody will kill chicks that hatch under the other broody. Many people have great success with two broodies hatching and raising the chicks together but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

I have no idea on how to treat them, just wishing you luck with it.

 

[CMV]

Clearly, your broodies cannot be trusted at this time with chicks, so moving them inside and under a lamp is a very good idea. You can clean the wounds with peroxide once, but then just use soap and water after that. A little plain Neosporin (without -caine ingredients) can be helpful with healing. Use it sparingly, though. A little bit goes on a long way on something as tiny as a chick. You don't want them to get chilled from being too gooey.