Help! Mama Hen has had just 1 egg hatch!

[alexaschicks]

I have a broody w just one chick, now 3 weeks old and it has been fine. Mama dotes on it and gives the chick all it needs, it never cries.
Mama had 2 eggs, the other was candled and found not alive. Even after we removed it, she stayed on the nest 2 days and 2 nights after the chick hatched. I put food and water close so chick could eat and drink.

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This is heart warming to see! What is your plan when mama hen wants to join her flock? Are mama and chick currently in their own coop? Thanks!

 

[alexaschicks]

Can you candle the other 3 eggs and see if they are good or not? Hens are fine with one chick, it's just that if you take it away and put it in a brooder it would need a friend. I'd let the hen have her 1 chick and not introduce diseases other chicks could bring.

I candled this morning and one looks matured past day 18 but no sound or movement. The other looked like day 14ish. And then I cried. First timer and just had such high hopes she would have a little group of babies. I think if this what nature has given her I will accept it as she doesn’t seem to mind just one baby. Any thoughts on what to do when integrating them back into the flock? They’re currently in their own coop, able to be seen by everyone though. Thank you!

 

[alexaschicks]

Bit off topic (sorry). Is she a corrination Sussex??? She is beautiful!!

I'd give her another day with the eggs, but would also candle them to make sure. You can put other chicks in there, I would do it at night and just put the chick under the hen (she won't notice/care as much) or if you don't want to do that put the other chick near the hen and other chick. She will peck at it if she doesn't want it, or will leave it and raise it as one of her own. I personally haven't have a broody kill chicks that weren't hers, but it does happen

She is a beautiful Sussex, and the most gentle sweet girl even as a broody. Thank you! The only breeder I know that has high health standards is over an hour drive away- not sure if I want the grand adventure. Do you think I’ve missed the window, with her only chick being 2.5 days old? For ease of transition I would love to have another but also don’t want to complicate things. Goodness I’m learning so much.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thank you so much for replying- in what ways did the baby have a rough go of it? Is it down the road when the mama joins the flock and it’s hard to integrate?

She's had to deal with the pecking order largely in her own. Her mama was a fantastic mama, but Bryony was a loner once she was beyond the age mamas dote on their chicks. She was between generations, so she never really "fit in" anywhere. She was never injured, but she was bullied quite a bit from those older AND the group that came after her. I had to separate her and her mama Poppy (the only chicken to not seem to dislike her) for a while just so she could get some peace. She is waaay at the bottom of the pecking order even at 2 years old and is still kind of a loner. She's become very flighty and a little neurotic, tbh.

It's gotten a little bit better over the past year or so, but I vowed I'd never let a single chick be brought into the flock again. NEVER EVER.

I imagine that if you have other mamas and chicks of the same "generation" in a flock, they'd fare better.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I let mine out to forage with the larger flock starting once mama was out of the nest. Mama keeps everyone away. She'll handle the integration. At night, the two went back into the nest (my brooding area a separate area of the coop).

 

[Aunt Angus]

She is a beautiful Sussex, and the most gentle sweet girl even as a broody. Thank you! The only breeder I know that has high health standards is over an hour drive away- not sure if I want the grand adventure. Do you think I’ve missed the window, with her only chick being 2.5 days old? For ease of transition I would love to have another but also don’t want to complicate things. Goodness I’m learning so much.

Maybe. Maybe not. In my opinion (and it's just an opinion), it's worth a try. You could try to put 2 under her. That way, if she rejects them, you could raise them in a brooder. Then at least they'd be of similar age.

 

[Lollychicken]

She is a beautiful Sussex, and the most gentle sweet girl even as a broody. Thank you! The only breeder I know that has high health standards is over an hour drive away- not sure if I want the grand adventure. Do you think I’ve missed the window, with her only chick being 2.5 days old? For ease of transition I would love to have another but also don’t want to complicate things. Goodness I’m learning so much.

If you did want another chick, it would be fine, but the age difference shouldn't be more than a week.

 

[TheMrsChick]

I let mine out to forage with the larger flock starting once mama was out of the nest. Mama keeps everyone away. She'll handle the integration. At night, the two went back into the nest (my brooding area a separate area of the coop).

Sorry so late to this conversation, but am curious. Do you have to physically get Mama and baby to their own area every night or do they go voluntarily?

 

[SueT]

Update on my hen with a solo chick—-mama integrated it into the flock at 3 weeks, (they had their separate area, I opened the gates) and it was seamless. Everyone accepted the new flock member. Then at 4 weeks, she abruptly weaned it. Turned out to be a cockerel, he’s 2 months+. old now.
How is yours going, any updates? Did you get more chicks?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Sorry so late to this conversation, but am curious. Do you have to physically get Mama and baby to their own area every night or do they go voluntarily?

They have always gone voluntarily. My current mama w/babies has shown a lit of hesitation about mingling with the flock. She stays in her area exclusively and hasn't brought the chicks out yet (even though the door is open every morning). She'll bring them out when she's ready, and she'll take them to the big coop when she's ready, too. At least, that's been my experience.