Emergency Help! Hens lost interest even as last chicks were hatching!

[Angela902]

Hi,

We had 2 hens sharing a nest, but both have lost interest even as chicks are still hatching (they just want to peck around with the chicks that were already born). This has probably happened because they laid the eggs rather than us putting under them all at once, plus it's hot on the nest. This happened yesterday as a chick was coming out, we forced one of the hens to stay on the nest by trapping her on it, and the result was we got two more chicks yesterday. Today these chicks are both fine and being cared for by the more motherly hen (not the one who we forced to stay on). But we are still having the same problem with the remaining eggs. I went out at about 7:30am and there was a chick hatching with no momma on it, I put her on and she stayed a little but when I came back 45 minutes later she was off it again. I tried to trap her on the nest again but when I got home, the chick had hatched and dried but neither hen would give it the time of day. They didn't kill it but they weren't doing anything for it either (it was peeping like crazy to be covered and when I held it, it was shivering periodically) so I've taken it and put it in an aquarium with a broody light, food and water. I put the other 2 eggs in there too.

OK, that's the situation. If this chick makes it till tonight, I will try to get it under the hen again, and perhaps by morning it will be accepted.

I need advice. Can I leave the chick in there with the other 2 eggs? One of these eggs is very heavy and though there are no cracks in it yet, I feel sure it WAS going to hatch. Don't know now that it was left cold awhile, but it is a warm day and this chick was almost done, so there is a chance it's not dead yet, and that goes for the other egg as well. Hatching began on Wednesday and it is now Saturday.

I wasn't going to do this, but it turns out I don't have the heart to do nothing. I've read all the stuff about hens knowing and not abandoning viable eggs and all, but that just isn't what's going on this time. These hens are giving up for some other reason, the most obvious that they are simply sick of sitting in the heat and there are plenty of other chicks running around to distract them.

So please share any experience with this situation, advice on how to safely hatch the other two eggs if still alive, can I leave the chick in with the eggs at this point or must I set up two boxes? How do I best get the hens to accept these chicks after hatching, etc.?

Thanks so much, Angela

 

[walkswithdog]

Quote:
Hens have brains the size of peas, small peas. They leave viable eggs all the time. They're really not very smart and their instincts often suck. They're taking care of the early hatchers and abandoning the others. That happens all the time. Heck it's why I bought my first incubator - broody failures.

Put the unhatched eggs in your bra and get an incubator or rig one. The temp needs to be 99-100 and a jar of water or rags or sponges for moisture. People use styrofoam boxes, cardboard (be careful of fire), heating pads, desk lamps, all kinds of things, anything that will make a small box 99-100 degrees for a couple of days and you can hatch an abandoned egg. Store bought incubators being the simplest. Actually hatching them with body heat sucks cuz it's itchy and messy.

We will NOT discuss how I know that.

Good luck.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

You could argue the case either way, it could be considered very smart or very dumb for a hen to act that way. Our domesticated chickens come with a wide range of broody skills, and many hens don't do a good job of incubating & tending their chicks. But they're also obeying Mother Nature who says to lay more eggs than they need to have hatch, and to take care of the strongest, the first to hatch, and leave the rest.

My hens usually will stay on their nest for about 24 hours after the first one hatches, and most of the viable eggs will have hatched by then. After 24 hours the hen must get up to take care of her own needs, and to take her chicks out for their first outing. She doesn't want to be held back by any new hatching chicks then.

It's unusual for 2 hens to share a nest like that. Did they both begin to set on the same day? Or did one join the other a day or two after? Did any other hens come in to add their eggs to the nest? That may be the reason why the chicks didn't all hatch on the same day.

It's up to you to decide how much work you want to do to try & hatch out & care for the remaining chicks. Some hens will accept new chicks placed under them after dark, but be ready to care for them yourself if the hens reject the new chicks in the morning.

I wish you & your biddies the best of success!

 

[dragonlaurel]

Good luck! I want to know how to handle it too- just in case.

 

[Angela902]

It was a cochin who went broody first, then the buff rock joined in maybe a week later. Other hens got in the nest and laid eggs too, but we took these out regularly (we marked 9 for hatching, though we know they weren't all developing the same, since we didn't put them under at the same time). They are all bantams also. The cochin left the nest first to care for the first 3 chicks, and Goldie (our buff) stayed setting, I guess till she just couldn't take it anymore. It seems that Henrietta (our cochin) is taking the lead in mothering, and she has accepted all the later chicks that goldie hatched, there are now 6 chicks with these hens, and one that we are hoping they'll accept later, though they ignored it today.

We broke all the rules and we knew it, now we are paying with this stress. We thought we might only get a chick or two, so we actually did well considering we didn't separate the broody hens from the others-- actually didn't do anything that we were supposed to. Now we have changed our minds and want all the chicks hatched!

 

[dancingbear]

Any time eggs are added over a period of several days, this will happen. That's why experienced folks say, over and over, to mark the eggs you select for hatching, start them all at the same time, and remove new eggs daily. (I know you already know this, emphasis added for anybody else who may be new.)

There are people who say hens won't leave viable eggs, (people say a lot of stuff that isn't accurate) but if you think about it, it simply does not make sense that a hen would ignore live chicks and let them die, to continue to set on eggs that may or may not hatch. The live chicks, peeping, etc., break the "broody spell". The hormones shift out of "brood" and into "mother".

Hens with eggs hatching over several days must either ignore the live chicks leaving the nest, possibly to let them die, or leave the eggs that remain, to care for the live, hatched chicks. Generally, the chicks take priority.

You can slip any new chicks under one of the hens at night, (they can't count) and they almost always accept the new chick. I wait until mine are fluffed out, steady on their feet, quick and active. About 24 hours. Otherwise, they may have trouble keeping up with older nest mates. I have successfully added a chick as old as 3 days. The age of the chick is important, if you wait too long, it won't bond with the hen, and won't know her "commands", such as "look, treats, come and eat!". Hens often don't care about the age of the chick, if it keeps up reasonably well with her other ones, she'll usually accept it. I've given very young chicks to hens with older ones, if they were separately confined. I did that with a mom chicken raising keets. She had 5 about 10 days old, some other 2 day old keets being ranged with a mom were in trouble, and I rescued them. Once they were dry and warm, I put them with the older keets and mom, and she just gathered them in without batting an eye.

I have hens share nests all the time, even when brooding. I have 2 pairs of hens co-parenting chicks, right now. There were some minor scuffles between the hens the first day, then they settled down. I have 6 new moms total, and a few with older chicks. They are all swapping chicks constantly. The whole gang is running around with chicks ranging from a few days old, to a couple of weeks old. All mixed together. Including a poult and a keet in the mix, both about 3 weeks old.

Broodies sharing a nest.

This hen started off with 5 chicks all the same age. A couple are still with her, plus this brand new chick, and this poult (and a keet, hatch with the poult) who started out with another hen. I didn't get a pic of the whole bunch, they move around too much.

All the babies are playing "musical moms", and none of the moms seem to mind at all. Anything that runs up peeping, they just take care of. Any age, any species. This doesn't happen with all flocks, but not unusual with mine. At least this year. Who knows, next year.

 

[walkswithdog]

What Jenny said. LOL. Mine share broody duties and nests all the time. With relatively few problems.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Just throwing this out there, but it's not that hens are stupid.

Think about instincts. If you had sat on eggs for 21 days, and had chicks...you would leave the nest to care for the chicks that had already hatched successfully. Why risk the health of the chicks that have "made it" by staying behind with the ones that MAY make it?

 

[Angela902]

Thanks to all of you who responded to my 'emergency.' We were able to get the hens to take the chick they had ignored later on. Nothing has happened with the other two eggs we stuck in a homemade incubator. They may have died at some point, not exactly sure when to give it up, but I'll read the posts here for advice. Thanks so much! angela

 

[atarunomiko]

Quote:
Apparently chicks actually have an innate ability to count, so I am assuming so do the adults:

We Told You Chicks Are Good at Math

Anyway, I still think it's cool that they will set and raise anyone's babies, not like lions, for example, who are like, "I'm not the baby daddy" and go *chomp*.