HELP 4 scalped hatchlings! I am new to raising chickens. I have three broody hens, each in their own nesting box. So far 4 scalped chicks??

[SosiesChicks]

HELP! 4 scalped hatchlings. We are new to raising chickens.
I Have 3 broody hens in separate nesting boxes. The chicks have started to hatch and I have had 4 scalped chicks! What is going on? Is it the hens or our one rooster?

 

[HoneyBeeHomestead]

Which hen are they under? Or are they just running around? They should be separated immediately. It could be either, depending on where they are in the coop. Are any still alive?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You do not get guarantees with living animals so anything can happen but I seriously doubt it is a rooster. I understand from some of the things you read on this forum that some people believe roosters are the seed of all evil and must all be destroyed but a rooster killing chicks on the nest as they hatch is not what is going on. The vast majority of roosters will either ignore the chicks or help the broody take care of them. They don't know if the chicks have their genetics or not but they are instinctively wired to protect the chicks, not harm them.

Some people never have troubles with broody hens hatching chicks in adjacent nests or even when they are all sharing one nest. But others do. Sometimes when the first chicks start peeping a broody hen will abandon her nest and go help the hen with hatching chicks. The two may work together to hatch and raise the chicks or they may fight over the eggs or chicks. I had that happen one time, a hen had only been broody a couple of days but when another hen's eggs started to hatch the two fought and destroyed half of the eggs. The new hen won and wanted to complete the hatch.

I have not seen this myself but there are several posts on this forum where a broody hen killed the chicks under a different broody as they started to hatch. I suspect that is what is going on.

So what can you do? If all of the eggs are due to hatch at the same time, put all of the eggs under one broody and lock the others up so you can break them from being broody.

If you have separate hatch dates, lock the hen whose eggs are hatching in her nest so the others cannot get to the chicks and leave her in there until the hatch is over, probably 2 more days. Neither the hen nor the chicks need food and water for that time. When the hatch is over move her and the chicks to a pen where the other broody hens cannot get to them.

I'll repeat. Often multiple broody hens can hatch chicks in the same general area without a problem. Yours have proven that they cannot so you need to take action.

 

[FunClucks]

Separate out the individual hens with their babies from the rest of the flock. You can put up chicken wire for a temporary enclosure. Then watch and see what happens and if you can identify a culprit.

You will need to do something to keep the babies from getting pecked on their injuries. They may need individual "cells" under a heat lamp in a brooder while they are healing. Bluekote can help once they have a scab to make it not look red, so they can go back with their hatchmates and possibly their mom.

It can take a month or more to heal such an injury, but they generally heal up fine, you'd never know they were scalped.

Plain Neosporin (no pain relief in it) can be put on the wound. and/or spray it with Vetericyn to clean the wound out if needed, then put the Neosporin on a bit.

Many birds can heal without antibiotics just fine.

 

[FunClucks]

ETA - but if you leave the scalped chicks in the flock, they may quickly be killed. Once chickens of any age see blood on a flockmate, it's like a switch flips in their brain and the flockmate is no longer a flockmate, but is food and will be attacked and eaten. Remove the blood (or seeing the blood) and it is a flockmate again.

 

[SosiesChicks]

Separate out the individual hens with their babies from the rest of the flock. You can put up chicken wire for a temporary enclosure. Then watch and see what happens and if you can identify a culprit.

You will need to do something to keep the babies from getting pecked on their injuries. They may need individual "cells" under a heat lamp in a brooder while they are healing. Bluekote can help once they have a scab to make it not look red, so they can go back with their hatchmates and possibly their mom.

It can take a month or more to heal such an injury, but they generally heal up fine, you'd never know they were scalped.

Plain Neosporin (no pain relief in it) can be put on the wound. and/or spray it with Vetericyn to clean the wound out if needed, then put the Neosporin on a bit.

Many birds can heal without antibiotics just fine.

Thank you! I have two that I have treated with Neosporin. They still look rough, but they seem to be tough. They are only two days old