Dead chick and broody hens fighting and bloody

[mlbuttercup]

I have 3 broody (1 silkie and 2 silkie-serama mix) hens sitting on and hatching eggs in 2 nesting boxes. All was going great till just now. My daughter just found a dead newly hatched chick out of the box and 2 of the three hens fighting. The last time we checked the chick was hatching along with no problems and it looks like it was fully developed with no issues. My immediate solution was to separate the 2 fighting hens by locking them both up alone. I gave the one chick that was already hatched and healthy to the 3rd hen (Silkie) and also moved all the eggs under her. What should I do now? If I keep the 2 hens that were fighting away how long must I wait till I can put them back with my other chickens and chicks? I have 9 hens and 2 roosters. The roosters (1 serama and 1 silkie-serama mix) don't fight.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Broodies fight, others fight with broodies, that's normal.

Not every broody knows how to care for chicks.

Multiple broodies can cause chaos.

Chicks can and do hop out of the nestboxes and get chilled or killed by other birds.

Hatching with broody hens isn't always simple. It's always best to let one do it at a time, and to participation her off with her chicks for a week or two after they hatch.

I would keep the extra broodies away until the remaining hen hatches and her and her brood are safely fenced off. The other two will need to be broke from their broody.

 

[centrarchid]

Put a partition between hens. Very good example of why to keep broodies separate. This outcome is not the rule but is a problem when does occur.

 

[sourland]

Multiple broody hens on the same nest is frequently a recipe for disaster resulting in low hatch and survival rates.

 

[bobbi-j]

Multiple broody hens on the same nest is frequently a recipe for disaster resulting in low hatch and survival rates.

I tried it once. Nothing hatched, and the eggs that didn't get broken spoiled. I'll never do it again.

 

[Folly's place]

Me too! Broody hens are best separated from the flock, and kept separate until the chicks are doing well. One broody at a time is best, or separate them too.
Mary