Here is the situation:
My hen brooded 6 eggs and killed each of them as they hatched but one, eating three of them. She has never done that before, and now she's acting hostile but not outright aggressive towards the lone survivor. She is my only broody and she has some terrible habits, but she raised a clutch last year with no problems, so this was really unexpected. She makes sure this baby eats and drinks and makes it back into the coop alright, but is otherwise not too friendly.
What I want to do is take the survivor from her to keep it from future harm (she's also cannibalistic towards her coop mates) and place it with two babies I'm going to bring home tonight from a breeder. I will raise them by hand.
Do any of you have any advice you'd like to share? Is it difficult to separate the baby and the mom? I believe I can make the survivor's life safer and more comfortable this way, despite whatever stress I may cause them. I plan on making the move at night to minimize that.
I just want to do what's best. I don't want to come home and find a baby chick puddle because she turned on the poor thing. I've already had more baby chick blood on my hands than I ever imagined. I know you CAN raise a single baby but they do better with friends, which is how I came up with this plan.
I guess I'm asking for a second opinion.
Help me help this fuzzy:
My hen brooded 6 eggs and killed each of them as they hatched but one, eating three of them. She has never done that before, and now she's acting hostile but not outright aggressive towards the lone survivor. She is my only broody and she has some terrible habits, but she raised a clutch last year with no problems, so this was really unexpected. She makes sure this baby eats and drinks and makes it back into the coop alright, but is otherwise not too friendly.
What I want to do is take the survivor from her to keep it from future harm (she's also cannibalistic towards her coop mates) and place it with two babies I'm going to bring home tonight from a breeder. I will raise them by hand.
Do any of you have any advice you'd like to share? Is it difficult to separate the baby and the mom? I believe I can make the survivor's life safer and more comfortable this way, despite whatever stress I may cause them. I plan on making the move at night to minimize that.
I just want to do what's best. I don't want to come home and find a baby chick puddle because she turned on the poor thing. I've already had more baby chick blood on my hands than I ever imagined. I know you CAN raise a single baby but they do better with friends, which is how I came up with this plan.
I guess I'm asking for a second opinion.
Help me help this fuzzy:
