Hen won't get off nest, her babies died.

[buddy18]

I have a hen who had 2 chicks 2 days ago. Found both of them dead, I think they suffocated, she wouldn't get off them. We took them and now she won't get off the nest even though there's no chicks. What to do?

 

[junebuggena]

Give her a few more days to 'snap' out of it. Likely there was something wrong with the chicks internally. It is not likely that they were suffocated.

 

[buddy18]

I only think that because they where flat and they both had poop all over them, very sad.

 

[josy]

She may have stepped on them too much. Id give her a bit to get over it but if she is still sitting there in a couple days I would take her out and if necessary put her in an "anti-broody" cage. A wire bottomed cage set in a bright location, preferably up a little bit high off the floor. Let her out now and then to see if she has snapped out of it or not. Doesn't always take very long.

 

[sumi]

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your chicks. I agree with the above advice, put her in a broody breaker so she can get over the broodiness and more active. Sitting around like that is not good for her.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

So sorry

I agree, break her. There's no need for her to continue sitting. I'm actually dealing with something similar. One of my hens hatched 9 chicks the day before yesterday. Since they've hatched, she's gone between leaving them peeping their heads off while she goes out to scratch or sitting on them like they're still eggs. She lost 1, leaving her with 8. I got tired of hearing chicks in distress, and luckily I have 6 other hens in various stages of brooding. I took her chicks, grafted them onto another hen who lost hers due to no fault of her own (snake, she was happy to have babies again even though its been weeks since her own eggs hatched) and bad mom is currently loosing her mind in the broody breaker. It's sad, but its reality. She'll soon be finding a new home, I don't keep hens that will constantly go broody and never do a decent job of raising their chicks. This was her second chance, she did the same thing when she set the first time, so she's outta here.

I hope you have better luck if there's a next time!

 

[junebuggena]

The only reason my that hen that is a terrible, ditzy mom is still around is because she molts quickly and lays all winter long. Otherwise she'd be soup. From March till September, it's a constant battle to keep her from brooding. But she earns her keep in the winter months, when everyone else has stopped.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Gotcha, mine are Silkies and Sizzles, constantly go broody, not particularly stellar layers and I have no shortage of them. I can see keeping a good producer around for sure. You might just have to break her everytime she broods, to help keep her in production mode. That's what I'd do, anyway. Was this her first time? If so, you might consider giving her another chance at sitting. A lot of my first timers don't do a good job, but make up for when they try again...