flscott
Hatching
- Oct 30, 2015
- 2
- 0
- 7
So I had a young hen go broody so we decided to try this natural process. Other chickens were getting in with her and lay beside her. So we separated her, but she abandon the clutch. She was confused I think and went back to were she was and started over.(Her getting back to the old coop was our error). So we fixed the error and isolated her and she hatched out 5 of the 11 eggs. The chicks are about 9 days old. She was doing fine and then last night I heard the chicks crying after dark when I went and check all 5 of the chicks were out of the coop on the ground, 2 lifeless- the hen was back in the nest box, laying on two eggs that two of my leghorns had put there. (I don't know how the leghorns got in.) I brought the chicks put them under a light to warm them and nursed drink again. The chicks seem okay this morning. When I went to check the hen, she was up and immediately ran back to old coop and is trying to set on more eggs. I am removing the eggs often. So my questions are why did this happen? Do I put the chicks back with her? Or will she do this again? How do I stop her from setting if I don't put the chicks back?