Help! Should I separate baby chicks from mother hen?

[Newtoraisingchicks]

This is my first time hatching chicks. A few weeks ago our White Orpington went broody and started collecting eggs. As other hens layed over the following weeks, my kids put all the eggs under her. We weren't really sure what would happen or how to go about it. We weren't really keeping track of how many days she had been broody, but it had been 2 or 3 weeks. We left for a weekend trip and came home to find a fuzzy black chick in the nesting box with her. We moved Mama and the chick along with the other 14 eggs she had been sitting on, into a brooder box in the garage to keep them separate from the rest of the flock. She kept sitting on the eggs but no more eggs hatched. The chick was already fluffy and active and looked to be a couple of days old when we found it. The next day, our hen started losing interest in sitting on eggs. We had one egg that got a hairline crack in it when we were moving the nest (in hindsight I wish I would have just left them all alone in the coop but I was worried about the other chickens attacking baby chicks). The cracked egg began to seep a small amount of blood. We candled all the eggs and found 3 that were unfertilized. All the rest we kept trying to encourage the mama hen to sit on. One of the eggs pipped and we kept trying to get the hen to keep it warm but she seemed to have lost interest in sitting on eggs and was focused on raising her chick. When we put the pipped egg under her, she attacked the pipped egg and pecked a nickel sized hole into it before I was able to rescue it and take it away from her. She then smashed open the egg with the hairline crack in it and began ripping apart the dead chick inside it and feeding it to her chick. She was very aggressively pecking at it and ripping it apart. It was disturbing. At this point we removed all the eggs and tried to keep them warm ourselves. The chick in the pipped egg seemed to be bleeding just a little but was still breathing and peeping. Almost 24 hours later, the pipped egg hatched, and we named it Pip. We then bought an incubator for the rest of the eggs and have been incubating them. One more egg just hatched tonight. At this point, our mama hen "Mr. Chicken" and her chick "Bebony" are together in a big brooder box in the garage and "Pip" is in a separate box next to them by himself (with a heat lamp). We tried several times to put Pip back in with Bebony and Mr. Chicken but each time Mr. Chicken aggressively pecked at him and we removed him. I also tried removing Mr. Chicken to the chicken coop and putting Bebony and Pip together but Bebony was very distressed and so was Mr. Chicken. They seem to be very bonded and Mr. Chicken is doing a good job of raising Bebony. She just refuses to raise any other chicks. So I am wondering what the best thing is to do at this point. Should I put the 3rd chick in with Pip once it dries off, and keep adding chicks when they hatch, and keep that flock separate from Bebony and Mr. Chicken, or should I send Mr. Chicken back to the coop and put Bebony in with the rest of the chicks? Or should I try again to put chicks in with Mr. Chicken and encourage her to raise them? At what point should I put the 3rd chick in with Pip? I'd like to keep him in the incubator for a while to get all dried out and encourage the other chicks to hatch, but I also don't want Pip to be alone much longer. Any recommendations? Thanks for your help!

 

[azygous]

What you have going on here, being a novice dealing with a broody hatching eggs, is called a staggered hatch. It never works. This is why we take measures not give additional eggs to a broody once she starts sitting on eggs.

It takes 21 days exactly from the day the broody begins incubating the eggs until they hatch. Any eggs that don't hatch are abandoned so the hen can begin caring for the chicks that hatched. What your broody did may have grossed you out, but it's normal behavior. She was using the unhatched eggs for food since her first instinct is to feed her chicks.

Advice is what you asked for, so here it is. Give the first chick to "Mr"(?) Chicken to raise. Take the rest of the chicks that hatch and set up a brooder for them and raise them yourself. Do not expect the hen or the chick to have anything to do with the subsequent chicks until they all grow up and join the flock.

Next time, if you wish to have a broody hatch a number of eggs, save the eggs until she begins to sit the nest. Don't give her any eggs until you know she's serious about staying on the nest. Then give her all the eggs you've been saving all at once. She will happily arrange them all under her and go about incubating them and turning them several times a day until they all hatch on the 21st day.

 

[Newtoraisingchicks]

Thank you for this advice. I really appreciate it. I am keeping Mr. Chicken (My daughter named her in a pair with another chick who didn't make it, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken) and Bebony separate from the other chicks. I moved the 12 hour old 3rd chick to the brooder box with Pip today, but Pip pecked at it relentlessly, so I removed it back to the incubator. Is it normal for the chicks to peck at each other and fight so much? Should I wait a day or two for the new chick to be more alert and strong before putting it in with the day or two older chicks? I'm likely to have more hatch every day or two since this is a staggered hatch, is this going to be a problem?

What you have going on here, being a novice dealing with a broody hatching eggs, is called a staggered hatch. It never works. This is why we take measures not give additional eggs to a broody once she starts sitting on eggs.

It takes 21 days exactly from the day the broody begins incubating the eggs until they hatch. Any eggs that don't hatch are abandoned so the hen can begin caring for the chicks that hatched. What your broody did may have grossed you out, but it's normal behavior. She was using the unhatched eggs for food since her first instinct is to feed her chicks.

Advice is what you asked for, so here it is. Give the first chick to "Mr"(?) Chicken to raise. Take the rest of the chicks that hatch and set up a brooder for them and raise them yourself. Do not expect the hen or the chick to have anything to do with the subsequent chicks until they all grow up and join the flock.

Next time, if you wish to have a broody hatch a number of eggs, save the eggs until she begins to sit the nest. Don't give her any eggs until you know she's serious about staying on the nest. Then give her all the eggs you've been saving all at once. She will happily arrange them all under her and go about incubating them and turning them several times a day until they all hatch on the 21st day.

 

[azygous]

You should be able to keep all of the later hatchlings together with no problem. Usually chicks are good about accepting new additions for the first four weeks. Occasionally you get a bully chick. Most of the time you can correct its behavior unless it's deeply ingrained due to genetic temperament. Here's an old article of mine with tips on dealing with a bully chick and keeping the brooder peaceful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aggressive-baby-chicks-and-how-to-stop-the-behavior.72029/

 

[Abbyandherchicks]

I have 12 fertile eggs, they hatch in 2 days. when they hatch should I separate them? I do want the chicks to be pet hens and laying hens. I feel if I take the chicks away from her Mum I can bond with them more and they will learn to be friendly. What should I do? I know its not the best taking them away from her but I think I nhave to do it. I also can't look after her and the chicks at home. Im going to a different property, I was thinking of taking the babies with me and look after them myself, but I don't know if I can take Momma (I don't think). I have kids ages 5, 12, 14, and they would also love to have this experience. What should I do? Please help!

 

[azygous]

You really should start your own thread so more people will join the discussion.

There is no better caretaker of baby chicks than a broody hen. I see no need to separate them.

 

[CoopBoots]

I have 12 fertile eggs, they hatch in 2 days. when they hatch should I separate them? I do want the chicks to be pet hens and laying hens. I feel if I take the chicks away from her Mum I can bond with them more and they will learn to be friendly. What should I do? I know its not the best taking them away from her but I think I nhave to do it. I also can't look after her and the chicks at home. Im going to a different property, I was thinking of taking the babies with me and look after them myself, but I don't know if I can take Momma (I don't think). I have kids ages 5, 12, 14, and they would also love to have this experience. What should I do? Please help!

Agree with @azygous that momma hen is usually fantastic, even without supervision, although obviously the chicks will be exposed to whatever predators the hen has to deal with in her current location. More chance of predation, I feel, outside of a brooder enclosure, but I like the broody aspect of integrating chicks to the flock, teaching the babies to forage, exposing them early to the dirt and ground to prepare their immune systems for life outside with the flock.

If you really want the hands-on, taming aspects more than the advantages a broody brings, I'd suggest splitting the hatch in half so that momma gets to enjoy the fruits of her labor and you do as well. No telling if you'll get attached to mostly cockerels, though. Best of luck!

 

[Chicalina]

You can still spend a lot of time interacting with the chicks even with Mama Hen looking after them. Broody raised chicks tend to get friendlier (by their choice rather than tolerance of you) when they hit the 6 to 8 week mark, I find. Mama Hen starts to wean them and they gravitate to humans for treats and entertainment.

 

[Thechickenwhisperer2022]

Agree with @azygous that momma hen is usually fantastic, even without supervision, although obviously the chicks will be exposed to whatever predators the hen has to deal with in her current location. More chance of predation, I feel, outside of a brooder enclosure, but I like the broody aspect of integrating chicks to the flock, teaching the babies to forage, exposing them early to the dirt and ground to prepare their immune systems for life outside with the flock.

If you really want the hands-on, taming aspects more than the advantages a broody brings, I'd suggest splitting the hatch in half so that momma gets to enjoy the fruits of her labor and you do as well. No telling if you'll get attached to mostly cockerels, though. Best of luck!

I have a hen who just hatched two babies two days ago. Because the nesting box was a couple of feet off the floor I moved the mother hen and two chicks to a brooder box with food and water. She settled in with the babies and appeared content. Today I went to check on them and she had abandoned them and had rejoined the flock. The babies were laying upside down, very cold and near death. I brought them inside and warmed them up. I brought the brood box inside, put a heat lamp on the box, gave the chicks water in a dropper that had electrolytes especially for baby chicks. They are now up and walking around chirping but show no interest in the water or food. I've dipped their beaks in the water and dipped their beaks in the crumbles food but they are showing no interest. All the other chicks I've raised were hatched in an incubator and when transferred to a brood box took interest immediately in the water. I was sort of shocked that the mother hen would abandon them so quickly, but she is a first time mother. Any suggestions on what else I should do to get them to drink and eat on their own?

 

[CoopBoots]

I have a hen who just hatched two babies two days ago. Because the nesting box was a couple of feet off the floor I moved the mother hen and two chicks to a brooder box with food and water. She settled in with the babies and appeared content. Today I went to check on them and she had abandoned them and had rejoined the flock. The babies were laying upside down, very cold and near death. I brought them inside and warmed them up. I brought the brood box inside, put a heat lamp on the box, gave the chicks water in a dropper that had electrolytes especially for baby chicks. They are now up and walking around chirping but show no interest in the water or food. I've dipped their beaks in the water and dipped their beaks in the crumbles food but they are showing no interest. All the other chicks I've raised were hatched in an incubator and when transferred to a brood box took interest immediately in the water. I was sort of shocked that the mother hen would abandon them so quickly, but she is a first time mother. Any suggestions on what else I should do to get them to drink and eat on their own?

Yikes, I'm so sorry you had such a rough experience with your first time momma.

If I'm raising brooder chicks I "poke" their food as if pecking and try my best mother imitation of tidbitting clucks. You might can find a video of that sound on YouTube, but picking up and dropping the tiny food bits seem to be how momma normally asks them to eat something. I sometimes feel and sound very silly but I'll generally try anything if I'm worried about a chick.

I'd also do the same with boiled and minced eggs, scattering a bit of both of them so there's both a main feeding area but also feed to search around for. Pick up and drop and call for these bits as well.

If they truly show no interest I'd continue using a dropper maybe hourly and gently redipping beaks in their water. But if they've been seriously chilled I'm not sure what the recovery rate is or how else to jumpstart them... Maybe someone else has more ideas...

Fingers crossed for your littles! Sometimes mamas are unpredictable and don't respond well to a move. I definitely wouldn't move that particular hen again if you do decide she gets another shot at it.