Mother hen not caring for chicks?

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

Corid does not work that fast, it's sort of starves out the cocci, so takes a bit. She probably was just starving herself! Mom wasn't taking her to food and water, so she probably got a little weak. Keep up the feeding until you see her eating. You can also dab a little egg yolk on her beak, get her to eat some of that, nutritious. If the other two have figured out the food and water, they'll teach her. If they haven't, dip the chick's beak in the water to teach them where it is. Spread a little bit of crumble on a paper towel and tap it with your fingernail for food. A little food and water will probably help calm this one's cheeping too. You can place it by the two sleeping ones under the heat lamp until it starts moving more on its own, chicks are happier with friends.

They will adapt to sleeping under the red light. They are used to sleeping under something in the dark, so they just need to adapt. Won't take long, though I definitely recommend the mama heating pad if you ever do this again. In my experience at least the chicks do better with sleep and wake cycles under the mama heating pad and feather out a little faster. Millions of chicks have happily grown up under the red light though, yours will be just fine

Watch the chicks behavior, when they start fighting a lot, or jumping out of that bin, then it's time for a new home. As long as they have a hot spot to go to warm up, they can be put in a garage or other outdoor structure. As you saw with Mama, even young chicks can actually handle a fair bit of time without their heater, as long as they have heat readily available when they do need it. I had four chicks in a bin that size for just under two weeks once, before they got too antsy and had to upsize.

Thanks for your reply!
The little chick seems to be less active sometimes but after I hand feed she perks up a bit.. She never sits down though only stands up to sleep unlike the other 2, strange?. .. She also had a bad case of pasty butt I just soaked and wiped her and she pooped normal so that's another problem resolved for now.
I wet the feed a little and they seemed to like that.
One chick keeps jumping up looking to attempt to get out.. they are use to free ranging so a box isn't like home. It's rainy today but I will take them outside tomorrow for grass time, although not sure if I should allow the sick chick outside?

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I made a crate into an outside cage for them, no heat so just short time out there. We a little sun so I had them out for 10mins now but more rain coming. They seemed to love it! Even the sick one perked up and scratched around.

 

[ackie]

I guess yours might be too old now, but I gave 2 6-day-old chicks to a broody and was amazed that they took to each other instantly.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I guess yours might be too old now, but I gave 2 6-day-old chicks to a broody and was amazed that they took to each other instantly.

Oh lucky it worked for you! I had previously posted about trying with my 2 broody hens and it didn't work out unfortunately, they just kept pecking the chicks.

 

[ackie]

Oh lucky it worked for you! I had previously posted about trying with my 2 broody hens and it didn't work out unfortunately, they just kept pecking the chicks.

yeah I was very nervous but the chicks seemed unhappy in the house and I kept trying to break the hen and failing. the chicks wanted to follow us and pretty much anything that moved around the house so they were apparently still adaptable to following a mom. & we snuck them under the hen in the nesting box at night and she tucked them up under her so I kept checking on them to make sure they hadnt been rejected. and then I put them in the brooder so they couldn't get too far apart in case they decided to wander apart.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

Chickie worse now, not eating and drinking not moving around.
I tried dipping her beak in a spoon of water a few times and she had that when forced but won't eat.
With cocci will she go downhill before she gets better?

 

[ackie]

I'm wondering if you should make a new thread with all the info about this little one to get some better help

 

[Old flock yet new]

Is the mothering instinct genetic? So my hens mother could have passed down a bad mothering instinct? - Her mother killed all but 1 of her chicks! I was so upset, it was just one every few days or week till 1 was left, and she didn't really care about them, kept running away or roosting up high so they couldn't reach her!
...I'm a bit worried another broody may kill the chicks if I pop them under because they are already a week old. And the broody ones are only pullets who haven't raised chicks before.
The mother hen seems to be taking the very 'relaxed' parenting approach.. She does allow the chicks to sleep under her at night so she would be keeping them warm then.. During the day I will just have to check on them every hour - I already had to rescue the chicks twice because mother hen had wandered off and the chicks were cheeping but she was not responding to their call or clucking back so I got the chicks and put them near her and they stopped cheeping. .. I won't be allowing this hen to brood again, I have plenty of other Silkies that want to be mums so I'll give them a go next or just allow my old faithful 8 yr old hen who has hatched many chicks and is a great mum - she would brood every few weeks if I let her but I only give her 2 hatches a year a Spring and a Summer hatch.

I have a moma that seems to be letting her babies die off. She is still caring fir the 1st 1 that hatched. The rest they have been dying 2nd day of life..first 1 I found in distress in a corner. I tried putting it under momma next to sibling. She moved and pecked it a few times. Poor thing ended up dying. This last one was fine on day 2 I was keeping an eye on it. 1 hatched out today. I did not notice until I made my night check. I found the baby that was doing good in the sand wet ice cold. I tried to save it but it died. I didn't even know it was a live until it finally started to chirp a little.. I am debating on taking the other baby chick from her she has 2 eggs left to hatch. Maybe I will wait and just take the newly hatched 1s and let her keep the 1 that she has been caring for . I noticed it jumps up and grass her comb alot and pecks her. Or take her last 2 eggs and hatch them I dunno I am lost.