Hen Stepping on newborns and killing them

[country_guy9734]

i have a large hen who was sitting on 12 eggs. they started hatching yesterday. so far she has steppen on 3 and killed them. i know for a fact this is what is happening. is there anything i can do to help prevent this?

 

[sourland]

Some hens are just clumsy, poor mothers. Aside from taking the chicks away from her, I don't know of any other solution. When this has happened in my flocks, I make sure that I never allow such a hen to raise chicks again.

 

[country_guy9734]

i have never had this problem with any other hens. she is even breaking the eggs. some are better than others i guess

 

[sourland]

Absolutely on the some are better mothers than others. As in most breeds of animals, good mothers generally produce daughters who are good mothers.

 

[mkcolls]

from Ohio!

Same situation this spring. The hens (we had two) lost the chance to harm or kill any more chicks. The eggs were removed to the incubator and the remaining live chicks to the brooder.

One of the hens, a Buff Orpington, went broody three more times over the summer. Each time I put her in with our Buff Brahma roo, Brutus, AKA "The Broody Buster". Works every time. One day with Brutus and the broodies are out free ranging and laying within the week.

All remaining chicks hatched healthy and a couple have started laying in the past few weeks.

 

[theoldchick]

This is common in the 'giant' breeds of chickens. People who wish to raise these large birds usually have a few Silkies on hand to hatch and raise large breed chicks.

Makes you wonder about creating such a large bird.

 

[Panth]

I have Partridge Rocks, which aren't generally known for going broody but 3 of mine love to sit. One has crushed every baby that hatches under her, so I put a red ziptie around her leg and use her just as an incubator. I candle the eggs carefully and a day or two before they hatch I move those eggs under one of my other hens. I don't have an actual incubator, so if one of my other hens isn't close to hatching her eggs, I let the babies hatch under her and then pull them into the house under a heat lamp as soon as they are dry. It probably messes with the poor hens heads to do this, but it actually works pretty well (I ordered a Cochin and a Silkie this year to act as my broodies). The really nice part about doing this is that my three hens all share the work of raising any babies I leave in the coop.

PS: I have noticed that if I only leave a few eggs under that bad hen at a time to hatch, she has better odds of keeping her big feet off them. Maybe try letting yours sit on only 5 or 6 eggs and see if it works better.

 

[SweetLittleChicks]

i have never had this problem with any other hens. she is even breaking the eggs. some are better than others i guess

My broody hen Frappuccino also stepped on her babies she is clumsy