Do hens get upset if only one chick hatches?

[citychicks99]

I had two broodies and a staggered hatch and moved mama #1 with her 4 babies that hatched last Wednesday into a separate pen and they're doing great. Mama #2 hatched one chick on Monday and was sitting on a couple more eggs. They were getting along fine until I removed the eggs because she had been sitting on them past three weeks and kept pooping on them so I figured it was pointless to let her health deteriorate while she pooped on the eggs.

Mama #2 started acting really weird, making the noise she makes when she's off her nest like she'll come back to the eggs. The poor solo chick followed her around and while mama #2 was still protective of her from the other flock members she acted pretty cold toward her chick, even stepping on him/her at one point when trying to protect him/her. She pecked at the chick like she wanted him/her to go away and instead of feeding him/her she kicked the food away every time he/she tried to eat. They didn't have this issue before. The chick managed to still hop on the mom to sleep but the mom didn't seem too happy her eggs were missing.

She's a first time mom but she was hatched by her mom who was a great mother and her sister seems to be doing pretty well too. Not sure if she's upset only one chick hatched? I'm trying to incubate the other eggs that weren't pooped on but I wouldn't get my hopes up. I just have a bad feeling about this. Should I get her a couple more chicks? Would that help her calm down a bit?

 

[azygous]

Beware of projecting your own emotions onto your chicken. Chickens aren't nearly as complex as humans, and what we might take as an emotion from a hen is usually nothing more than her hormones directing her actions.

Your hen is probably not rejecting the chick. The hen is more likely acting out of eagerness or clumsiness, not pique when she steps on the chick or flings food around. Resentment is a human emotion. If a hen is acting as if she is resentful, more likely she's simply clumsy.

Adding more chicks probably won't work. It definitely would complicate matters. A hen will care for one chick exactly as she would ten. But those ten chicks must be from eggs she hatched. It's rare that a hen will accept a bunch of store bought chicks after hatching a single chick. You can try, but don't count on it working out.

If she shows a preference for sitting on eggs instead of caring for the chick, you must remove her from the eggs unless they are due to hatch the next day. As long as she has unhatched eggs, she will be driven by her hormones to sit on them, ignoring the chick that needs her care.