Momma Hen killed her first chick?

[MommaBee]

We have had a broody who has been a fantastic sitter. We woke up this morning to find 3 new baby chicks and some still hatching. After careful inspection, we found 1 dead. when I removed it, it was smash and had one leg missing, clearly chewed off. You could tell it died right after hatching. It was not fluffed up like the others we found this morning.

Is this normal for a momma to do on her first time hatching? Was she so startled that she killed the first one? Are the others safe? She seems protective of them. She is not mean but pushes them back under her wings and breast when we are close?

I am thinking we should just let nature run its course but I would hate for he to kill anymore of them.

 

[sourland]

The fact that one leg is missing is somewhat alarming. It is not unusual for an occasional chick to get squashed especially if the hen is large and somewhat clumsy. It is unusual for a leg to be chewed off. I hope that you are not dealing with a predator of some sort (rat etc.). Her behavior with the surviving chicks sounds perfectly normal. The less interference the better especially with a first time or overprotective hen.

 

[20736]

I have had hens abandon hatchlings, and I have tried to save some, but to no avail. The broody hen has keen instincts, and shuns those chicks that can't make it. Nature in the raw is seldom mild My Dad used to say.

 

[MommaBee]

Thank you both for your response.

Well who knows what really happened. She now has 6 lil babies and is mothering them all really well. She lets us touch them but gets pretty mad if they start chirping too loud. She is a big hen but average I would say. Normal sized speckled sussex. Our theory is that either a predator like a rat (like you said Sourland) smelled the blood from hatching and came in to her pen. Or, she squashed it in the middle of the night when it hatched and just didn't know what to do with it. This is her first time to hatch and I am sure the whole thing was alarming.
Either way it is very sad. But nature is a mystery and everyone seems to be doing fine with their momma this morning.