hen killing chicks...HELP

[krudolph]

I have a BR hen with a clutch of (at last count) 17 eggs. Yesterday found one egg on the floor of the coop partially hatched and dead. This morning there's a live chick in the nest with her and she was attacking a newborn chick, killed it. What do I do? Do I intervene or let nature take its course? I'm heartbroken...Help, please!

 

[seminolewind]

Remove the chicks into their own home. I guess she's not being a good mommy. Incubate the rest of the eggs if you can.

 

[Bunnylady]

If this were my hen, I'd move the eggs to my incubator and let them finish in there. For whatever reason, this BR is failing this part of the motherhood test!

 

[krudolph]

I don't have an incubator...just a box with a heat lamp...will that help hatch the remaining eggs?

 

[beth59]

We had a BO hen who was always broody, so we let her hatch out some chicks back in April. She did the same thing, so we just kept a watch as the eggs were hatching and immediately moved the babies to the brooder as they hatched.

Beth

 

[Bunnylady]

One problem with finishing eggs out in a brooder box, is that the temperature is rather variable. If you can find an area that is reliably the right temperature, I suppose you could construct a sort of fence around it to keep the eggs in, and keep the hatched chicks from moving the eggs out of it. Humidity is an issue, too. If the air in the area of your brooder is very humid anyway, it may be fine, but a lack of sufficient moisture at hatching time is one of the reasons that an egg may fail to hatch.

 

[sourland]

Darken the area where she is setting(if possible) and remove the chicks as they hatch. She has failed the broody test. Don't allow her to brood again as she will most likely repeat this behavior.