hatching advice needed asap

[trisha121]

Hello all new to group and chicken world! One of my mothers hens has recently started hatching. Her first chick was hatched and is healthy as can be but the second egg was hatched and apparently eaten by the mommy hen. I went to check in on the nest and found a half eaten chick tossed out of the nest. Im not sure what to do if anything. I removed the dead chick and left the hen and her chick alone. The problem here is that she is still sitting on 24 eggs and im so afraid she will kill and eat more. Should we take the eggs and baby or should we just let nature take its course? Why would she kill her baby chick? Should we stay away? Are we causing her to eat her chick by checking in on her too much? Will she kill the little guy thats alive and well. Should we try to hatch the rest of the eggs ourselves (buy an incubator)? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. We didnt mean to have her sitti g on so many eggs but our other chickens were sneaking in and under the brooding hen and we didnt know. So now were kind of stuck w what we got. We only recently moved the mom to a smaller chicken coup (moved on day 19 of brooding). First chick hatched on day 21 next one today (day22). Im so so sad this happened n just cant stand the thought of her doing this to more of her chicks. HELP PLEASE

 

[bobbi-j]

Hello all new to group and chicken world! One of my mothers hens has recently started hatching. Her first chick was hatched and is healthy as can be but the second egg was hatched and apparently eaten by the mommy hen. I went to check in on the nest and found a half eaten chick tossed out of the nest. Im not sure what to do if anything. I removed the dead chick and left the hen and her chick alone. The problem here is that she is still sitting on 24 eggs and im so afraid she will kill and eat more. Should we take the eggs and baby or should we just let nature take its course? Why would she kill her baby chick? Should we stay away? Are we causing her to eat her chick by checking in on her too much? Will she kill the little guy thats alive and well. Should we try to hatch the rest of the eggs ourselves (buy an incubator)? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. We didnt mean to have her sitti g on so many eggs but our other chickens were sneaking in and under the brooding hen and we didnt know. So now were kind of stuck w what we got. We only recently moved the mom to a smaller chicken coup (moved on day 19 of brooding). First chick hatched on day 21 next one today (day22). Im so so sad this happened n just cant stand the thought of her doing this to more of her chicks. HELP PLEASE

There are a few things that could have happened. Could be the chick had something wrong with it and the mother killed it. Could be that the chick was already dead. Could be something else (like a rat) got ahold of it. Could be she thought she was protecting it. Who knows what goes on in a chicken's mind?

Personally, I leave my broodies alone when they're hatching. Chickens have been hatching eggs for centuries and don't need my help. Some chicks make it, some don't. I prefer to let nature take its course. Survival of the fittest and all that. I believe that keeps my flock strong and healthy. I would leave the hen alone at least until tomorrow. Mine usually stay on the nest for 24 hours or so until all that are going to hatch have done so.

With 24 eggs that have been laid at various times, there is a chance that not many will hatch, anyway. When there are too many eggs, they don't all get covered well. The hen also moves and shuffles them around, so different eggs aren't covered at different times. She may abandon the rest of the eggs a day or two after the first ones hatch, leaving any viable ones to die. You could get an incubator and try to hatch them, or just discard them. If you do hatch them, you will likely end up brooding them artificially. She may or may not accept them if you tried to give them to her. I don't know that I'd take the chance.

For future reference, if you have a hen setting within the flock, take a Sharpie and draw a circle around the eggs you want her to hatch. Give them to her all at once. Check daily and remove any that have been added by the other hens.

 

[trisha121]

There are a few things that could have happened. Could be the chick had something wrong with it and the mother killed it. Could be that the chick was already dead. Could be something else (like a rat) got ahold of it. Could be she thought she was protecting it. Who knows what goes on in a chicken's mind?

Personally, I leave my broodies alone when they're hatching. Chickens have been hatching eggs for centuries and don't need my help. Some chicks make it, some don't. I prefer to let nature take its course. Survival of the fittest and all that. I believe that keeps my flock strong and healthy. I would leave the hen alone at least until tomorrow. Mine usually stay on the nest for 24 hours or so until all that are going to hatch have done so.

With 24 eggs that have been laid at various times, there is a chance that not many will hatch, anyway. When there are too many eggs, they don't all get covered well. The hen also moves and shuffles them around, so different eggs aren't covered at different times. She may abandon the rest of the eggs a day or two after the first ones hatch, leaving any viable ones to die. You could get an incubator and try to hatch them, or just discard them. If you do hatch them, you will likely end up brooding them artificially. She may or may not accept them if you tried to give them to her. I don't know that I'd take the chance.

For future reference, if you have a hen setting within the flock, take a Sharpie and draw a circle around the eggs you want her to hatch. Give them to her all at once. Check daily and remove any that have been added by the other hens.

Thank you so much for the advice. I think i just need to leave her be like you suggested. Fingers crossed it all turns out ok. My mom hadnt planned on having chicks this early in the year but hen just started brooding and things kind of just got crazy from there. Hopefully, everything turns out ok. I just cant stop worrying about it.

 

[bobbi-j]

Thank you so much for the advice. I think i just need to leave her be like you suggested. Fingers crossed it all turns out ok. My mom hadnt planned on having chicks this early in the year but hen just started brooding and things kind of just got crazy from there. Hopefully, everything turns out ok. I just cant stop worrying about it.

I get that. Things do happen, and life gets crazy. Now, depending on where you live, go get a cup of hot cocoa or some lemonade, take a deep breath and hang in there. I have come to the place in life where I feel it will be what it will be. Unfortunately, not all baby chicks survive. It's sad, but it happens. A staggered hatch with that many eggs can get complicated. If it were mine, I'd let her be on the nest for 2 or 3 days more if she wants to be, then discard the eggs that don't hatch. She may or may not want to stay on that long. Do you have food and water close by? Hopefully she'd take her first-hatched chicks to food and water within the first couple of days. They can go for up to 72 hours without food and water, so they won't die if she waits a day or so.

 

[trisha121]

I just checked on her and she killed the other one too. I found the chick thrown out of nest and dead. What should i do. I do not have an incubator

 

[trisha121]

I just checked on her and she killed the other one too. I found the chick thrown out of nest and dead. What should i do. I do not have an incubator

Oh yeah and she didnt eat this one. So im not sure what happened.

 

[junebuggena]

Do you have any other chickens? Sometimes members of the flock come to check out what all the peeping is and find the chicks and kill them.