Help!!!! My broody hen ate a chick..... remove others????

[wnc mtn girl]

Today is day 21.....she has 2 live chicks, is sitting on more eggs but she was eating a dead chick!!!!!! Is that normal????? I have no idea if it was alive or dead when she started eating it. Do hens eat the chicks that don't survive????

 

[HappyClucker7]

I would remove the hatched chicks fro the nest and rais them inside. Only add them to the flock when they are adults. As soon as the all the eggs have hatched kepp an eye on the hen. I you see her attacking any of your other chickens or pecking them until they bleed, remove her from your flock. Once chickens have gotten the taste of a nother chocken, then they could become canabalistic. Once that happens you can almost never get her to stop. I'm not saying that it has to happen, but it is a possibility. So just wait until the eggs have hatched, then remove them from their mother. Keep a close watch on the hen. Good luck!

 

[wnc mtn girl]

I'm wondering if she did that because maybe there was something wrong with it. We now have 3 hatched that are doing great. She took them out to eat & drink and then went back to sit on the last 2 eggs. The waiting game is hard on my impatient self, lol. I hope the other 2 hatch!!!