Hen stomped 2 of her baby chicks

[Mountain Roost]

I would add something heavy to the top of her cage. A predator thinks nothing of batting a cage away.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Unsolicited advice but I would move the food and water so she has to walk a bit to eat. They need a little encouragement to move around. She should be getting off the nest once at least every other day to poop and dust bathe.

 

[AinaWGSD]

You didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes first time mom's make fatal mistakes, some hens are just bad moms, and then there's the chance something was wrong with the chicks and they just died (would have died even if they were in a brooder).

With my current broody I only candled the eggs once, on day 18. Sadly, 4 of the 7 eggs were clear, they never even started to develop (I was able to blow out the contents and save the shells) so I pulled them. And one looked like it started to develop but quit early on, but I wasn't sure so I l eft it under her. It broke while the other 2 were hatching and stuck to my hen

Here is an excellent thread on candling and what to look for/expect as the eggs develop. If you candle a few days before the due date it's easier to tell which eggs are good and which are bad because the chicks that are developing properly will take up almost the entire egg. If there's any doubt, it usually doesn't hurt to put the egg back under the hen just in case.

 

[Mania]

Updates: the second clutch is hatching! So far, there are 6 chicks out of 9 eggs. It's a bit colder here now, so I hope that the hen can keep them nice and warm.
Overall, this second broody hen is much calmer and looks like she knows what she's doing.
I also bought some leg tags to keep track of the chickens - which ones are older, which ones were broody and so on. Most of them are New Hampshires and I can't tell them apart.

 

[Mania]

Updates: the second clutch is hatching! So far, there are 6 chicks out of 9 eggs. It's a bit colder here now, so I hope that the hen can keep them nice and warm.
Overall, this second broody hen is much calmer and looks like she knows what she's doing.
I also bought some leg tags to keep track of the chickens - which ones are older, which ones were broody and so on. Most of them are New Hampshires and I can't tell them apart.

8 chicks out of 9 eggs. I think that's great! The first "hatching failure" probably was the hen's fault, because this one didn't have any problems and is a great mom. I didn't interfere (just like I didn't before) and they look healthy and lively. This is their 2nd time being outside.