killer hen!

[hobby chick]

I have a 11 month old wyandotte hen who took over my duck egg nest and I had heard hens will raise ducklings so I was happy to leave them under her. But then they started pipping and peeping and she started decimating them! Pecking at their shells and breaking them. There was shell and blood everywhere when I went out last night. one duckling was dead and I'm surprised they all weren't! Another was just blood everywhere and half the shell gone but when I picked it up the duckling was still alive. I collected all the damaged eggs and got them into my incubator and ramped up the humidity. Obviously because they're all damaged the ducklings arent able to hatch naturally and were drying out and all the rest, so it's been a massive few hours of misting and assisting and somehow we have live babies, with a few more with partial shells attached still in the incubator. It's full steam ICU here atm! So I'm wondering... has anyone observed this behaviour in a young hen before and will she get over it?

 

[Hei 20]

I have a 11 month old wyandotte hen who took over my duck egg nest and I had heard hens will raise ducklings so I was happy to leave them under her. But then they started pipping and peeping and she started decimating them! Pecking at their shells and breaking them. There was shell and blood everywhere when I went out last night. one duckling was dead and I'm surprised they all weren't! Another was just blood everywhere and half the shell gone but when I picked it up the duckling was still alive. I collected all the damaged eggs and got them into my incubator and ramped up the humidity. Obviously because they're all damaged the ducklings arent able to hatch naturally and were drying out and all the rest, so it's been a massive few hours of misting and assisting and somehow we have live babies, with a few more with partial shells attached still in the incubator. It's full steam ICU here atm! So I'm wondering... has anyone observed this behaviour in a young hen before and will she get over it?

I'm sorry you went through that.
I don't know why your hen did that.
But I am so happy you were able to help some babies.

 

[hobby chick]

I'm sorry you went through that.
I don't know why your hen did that.
But I am so happy you were able to help some babies.

thank you

 

[CluckerFamily]

Oh no!! I'm glad you came in times to help the others.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Unfortunately not all mama hens are good at it - some are only good for sitting on the eggs, and then either lose interest and leave early, or harm the hatchlings.

I think it would be best to not let her brood again, no reason to risk more losses.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I agree a hen with that behavior would be banned from sitting on eggs

 

[the3quail]

Poor babies

 

[hobby chick]

Thanks everyone. A couple more died overnight. We've ended up with five from eleven looking okay. We're counting any lives saved in this disaster as a win.

 

[Trisseh]

My duck hen did this same kind of thing. She was dutiful all through the incubation period but she lost her mind when suddenly she could hear them. She also will not be allowed to hatch again. Although I may use her as a pre-incubator if she goes broody. Better hatching rates hopefully and less work for me for less time.
Some just don’t have the instinct they should. Good on you for saving the survivors! Beautiful little quackers! even a single live one is a win.

 

[hobby chick]

My duck hen did this same kind of thing. She was dutiful all through the incubation period but she lost her mind when suddenly she could hear them. She also will not be allowed to hatch again. Although I may use her as a pre-incubator if she goes broody. Better hatching rates hopefully and less work for me for less time.
Some just don’t have the instinct they should. Good on you for saving the survivors! Beautiful little quackers! even a single live one is a win.

thank you