HELP! My broody is attacking the chicks!

[nicolemac]

Hi fellow chicken enthusiasts, I need you assistance!

I have given my broody hen three 2 day old chicks and she is rejecting them, she attacks them quite violently. I put them in last night under her and she calmed down and went to sleep. I went to check on them this morning expecting to see a devoted new mother or a bloodbath.

Unfortunately it wasn't a new mother. She had rejected one of the chicks and it was lying out in the middle of coop, I expect it will die soon as it can even hold its own head up. As for the other two, they are still alive - i hope. They are underneath the broody at the moment - when i checked this morning i could still hear them peeping a little.

What do I do? How can I help her accept them? They were put under at night but she wasn't sleeping really as the sound of the chicks woke her up. If i was to put a chick in front of her face, she would attack it.

How can I help these to chicks get their new mum to care for them!?

Please help fast..

Nicole, Skye.

 

[Ridgerunner]

From what I read, you did everything right. What you did works almost all the time, but there are times it doesn’t. It’s just the hen. I’ve had hen’s attack and kill chicks that they hatched themselves. They are living animals. No one can give you any guarantees.

I suggest you raise them yourself in a brooder. Sorry!

 

[nicolemac]

Okay, so i have just come home from work to find the runt of the chicks dead and with head pecked in outside of the coop. Do I take the chicks away from the broody before she kills them?

I don't think she is fully aware they are underneath her. She is just sitting as if on eggs again, I really want to do whats best for these chicks now. And if she realizes they are there, it'll only take a few sharp pecks to kill the last two.

This is more stressful than I expected.

 

[Eggcessive]

You need to take them away and put them in a brooder. She obviously can't be trusted with these chicks. I have had broodies who hatched the chicks do this.