mother hen attacking chick

[penelope]

Hello,

One of my broody hens hatched 5 eggs yesterday. The chicks are a mixture of breeds, but 4 of them are black and one is yellow. I noticed yesterday that the mother hen was pecking at the yellow chick. I took it out and noticed that it has a small bald patch on one of its ears. It isn't bleeding obviously, but it looks blackish red. I think it was born like this, it doesn't look like the hen did it (not a fresh wound). I kept the chick away from the hen for the afternoon and put it back under the hen at night and all seemed fine. This morning I noticed her peck it once, but it generally tries to hide under her and she leaves it alone, probably because she can't see it. I'd really like for the hen to raise the chick herself, as I don't have anything set up to hand raise the chick. Is it likely that she is picking on this chick because it is a different colour from the other chicks, or because of it's bald patch on the ear? Also, is it likely that she will stop pecking at it or should I remove it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[El Naked Neck]

same thing happend to one of my chicks,he was a turken and i would put it back under her at night but sad to say one morning he has dead,and the thing was that there where more turkens but she only pecked that one.don't know why,but A FRIEND TOLME THAT HENS CAN SENSE,sick chicks but i dont,know,hope u make the right choise

 

[Gonzo]

I myself would remove the chick just to be on the safe side.

 

[RAWR]

usually mother animals know when one of the babies wont make it or are sick and have a chance of getting the others sick too so they kill it, shun it, or just abandon it

 

[penelope]

Thanks for the replies.

Just thought I'd let you know that when I got home after writing the post the little chick was hiding in a corner and had a bleeding beak. So, I took it out and I've set up a make shift home for it in the lounge room in a cardboard box. It has a hot water bottle to keep it warm and a teddy to snuggle under for 'protection'. Luckily for me it's summer here (I'm in Australia) so it seems to stay warm enough during the day when I'm at work and can't change the hot water bottle. It seems to be doing ok - but I hate the fact that it now has to be brought up alone in a box and without a mum. I'm guessing that there's no way that I can put it back in with the hen and other chicks for now.

So, my questions now are; how old do you think it needs to be before I can put it back outside? The setup that I have is mother hen and babies inside an enclosure that is inside a bigger enclosure where all the other adult hens are (so everyone can see each other but the other adult hens can't attack the chicks). If it is going to be months before I can reintroduce my chick, any suggestions as to how to make it more comfortable inside as it grows bigger?

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

If it was me, I would steal another chick from the mom so that the house chickie is not alone. Not only will it be company in the house, but when you introduce them to the flock, they will have each other to "hang with".

My house chicks move out at about 6 weeks old. They have a separate section of the run and they sleep in a dog crate/kennel in the coop at night. Once they are close in size to my adults, I let them mingle.

Pictures?

 

[penelope]

Cool, thanks heaps for that - I'll give it a try.

I don't have any pictures with me now - I'll try to get some tonight/tomorrow and post them.

 

[penelope]

OK, finally got around to remembering to bring the camera in to work (don't have the internet at home).

Here are some pictures of when she only a few days old (you can see her broken beak), and a couple of her now (at 2 weeks).

I couldn't bring myself to take one of the other chicks away from their mum, so she is still alone inside.

Any idea what she is? She hatched out of a brown egg if that helps.

BTW I'm just assuming she is a she because I hope she is.

Her beak is looking better now - the red in this photo is mulberry juice.

here are her 'siblings', outside with mum

 

[slackwater]

My completely uneducated guess is NHR

 

[penelope]

excuse my ignorance, but what is that?

I think all the chicks came from the same dad, so they are most likely crosses (but maybe not - I don' really know).