Help! One chick

[Hamptonsilkies]

Hi everyone

Looking for advice my broody silkie hen was sitting on 3 eggs so i separated her and the eggs as the hens started fighting over the eggs and all were stressed.
Only one chick has hatched (I candled the other two eggs and they are no good).
Can I reintegrate mom and chick back into the coop? (2 other silkie hens one silkie rooster) I am worried as there is only one chick.

Open to all advice/ suggestions!

 

[NatJ]

Can I reintegrate mom and chick back into the coop? (2 other silkie hens one silkie rooster)

Yes, you can probably reintegrate them into the coop.

I am worried as there is only one chick.

When the chick is partly grown up, the hen may decide she is done being a mother, and quit protecting it. That time can be harder for a single chick than for a group of chicks. You could buy one or two more chicks and try to get the hen to adopt them too, so there will be a group of chicks.

But hens are not consistent in how long they care for their chicks, which means some single chicks have it much harder than others. There is no way to predict that, unless you already have experience with this particular hen (and even then, she could change her mind.)

I once had a hen that went broody again after raising chicks, and one of her half-grown daughters was sitting beside her in the nest each day! I think that is not common, but chickens do weird things sometimes.

 

[Hamptonsilkies]

Yes, you can probably reintegrate them into the coop.


When the chick is partly grown up, the hen may decide she is done being a mother, and quit protecting it. That time can be harder for a single chick than for a group of chicks. You could buy one or two more chicks and try to get the hen to adopt them too, so there will be a group of chicks.

But hens are not consistent in how long they care for their chicks, which means some single chicks have it much harder than others. There is no way to predict that, unless you already have experience with this particular hen (and even then, she could change her mind.)

I once had a hen that went broody again after raising chicks, and one of her half-grown daughters was sitting beside her in the nest each day! I think that is not common, but chickens do weird things sometimes.

Thank you so much for the reply!