This is going to be a bit long but...
I had 4 girls and a rooster in my coop. We came upon 4 more girls who were just starting to lay eggs. I put the new girls in a separate coop and 3 of my 4 other girls became broody. They started hording their eggs and all three were sitting on them. This is my first time and decided to just let nature take its course. I did not realize that the 4th girl was putting all of her eggs under the broody 3. When the first 2 hatched, there were another 20 eggs under them. I did not want to introduce the new girls to the old girls while the eggs were hatching so I decided to switch coops. I moved the two chicks and 3 broody girls into the smaller coop and the new girls into the bigger coop.
A couple days later 4 more eggs hatched. The broody mommas started pecking their newborns. They all but killed two, they lasted a couple of days but we ultimately lost them. We saved another 2 but they were also well pecked in the head. The mammas never touched the first 2 chicks. We decided to take the eggs out and put them in a make-shift incubator.
My question is did I do something wrong? Did the mammas think they were sitting on the other chick's eggs? Is moving broody girls a no no? The most aggressive mamma will not leave the nesting area even though there are no more eggs. Will she get over this, should I kick her out or give her time. I would really like to get them all in the same coop.
We still have 4 healthy chicks but I think we lost the rest of the eggs. We used the water test to see if the rest of the eggs are still viable but it seems they are going to be a total loss.
I had 4 girls and a rooster in my coop. We came upon 4 more girls who were just starting to lay eggs. I put the new girls in a separate coop and 3 of my 4 other girls became broody. They started hording their eggs and all three were sitting on them. This is my first time and decided to just let nature take its course. I did not realize that the 4th girl was putting all of her eggs under the broody 3. When the first 2 hatched, there were another 20 eggs under them. I did not want to introduce the new girls to the old girls while the eggs were hatching so I decided to switch coops. I moved the two chicks and 3 broody girls into the smaller coop and the new girls into the bigger coop.
A couple days later 4 more eggs hatched. The broody mommas started pecking their newborns. They all but killed two, they lasted a couple of days but we ultimately lost them. We saved another 2 but they were also well pecked in the head. The mammas never touched the first 2 chicks. We decided to take the eggs out and put them in a make-shift incubator.
My question is did I do something wrong? Did the mammas think they were sitting on the other chick's eggs? Is moving broody girls a no no? The most aggressive mamma will not leave the nesting area even though there are no more eggs. Will she get over this, should I kick her out or give her time. I would really like to get them all in the same coop.
We still have 4 healthy chicks but I think we lost the rest of the eggs. We used the water test to see if the rest of the eggs are still viable but it seems they are going to be a total loss.
