- Jun 4, 2011
- 38
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I am needing advice. I have a mama hen who has 1 chick about 3-4 weeks old. But, she is also sitting on 4 eggs that are close to hatching. She had 6 to begin with....1 hatched the other day and was dead when I found it. Then, one hatched today and had a bad wound from pecking or something so I brought it in under the heat lamp.
My worry is that she is not accepting new chicks because the one she has is older. If this is true, whey has she continued to be broody and sit on eggs? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I am hoping someone else has been in this situation. I am worried that each time a new chick hatches, she is going to end up killing it. Or maybe the older chick is pecking?
Anyways...I am trying to decide what to do with the 4 eggs. I do not know when she starting sitting...she is an "egg stealer", so to speak..so broody she kept getting eggs before we could figure out the stages and approx. hatch time. I have another mama hen sitting on some eggs that have not hatched and are still a couple weeks out. Should I give her the 4 eggs, that way when they hatch she will have them as her own?
Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, if the lone chick under the lamp survives, do I need to get it a friend or will it do okay by itself. Wasn't sure if I should take the next one that hatches and put it with the chick or not.
Thanks!
My worry is that she is not accepting new chicks because the one she has is older. If this is true, whey has she continued to be broody and sit on eggs? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I am hoping someone else has been in this situation. I am worried that each time a new chick hatches, she is going to end up killing it. Or maybe the older chick is pecking?
Anyways...I am trying to decide what to do with the 4 eggs. I do not know when she starting sitting...she is an "egg stealer", so to speak..so broody she kept getting eggs before we could figure out the stages and approx. hatch time. I have another mama hen sitting on some eggs that have not hatched and are still a couple weeks out. Should I give her the 4 eggs, that way when they hatch she will have them as her own?
Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, if the lone chick under the lamp survives, do I need to get it a friend or will it do okay by itself. Wasn't sure if I should take the next one that hatches and put it with the chick or not.
Thanks!
