Mother Hen rejects other chicks and kills them. Loves and protects her own chicks only

[Doo]

I found out in the early hours of the day last week something was wrong when I went to check the box where I was keeping 19 chicks with a mother hen keeping them warm in the night as the heater blew up.
My nine chicks from the other hen were not in sight and I though a dog came into the laundry where I was keeping them. When I saw the hen protecting her own 11 chicks then I though she practice cannibalism on all the other chicks. I found two dead and wondered.
When I checked later and searched among the boxes and stuff in the laundry I found 6 of them. I took them to their own mother hen. She rejected them and wouldn't care less. Eventually I only have one survivor left and the 11 chicks from the other hen.
A lot of things I learned the hard way. Now I have decided to fence in the area and extend the coop and let them roam freely outside.
Maybe they need space and privacy

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Did she hatch all of these chicks? Or just her own? Not every broody hen will accept chicks she didn't hatch

 

[Chickassan]

Not every broody behaves like we expect period.

 

[Doo]

Did she hatch all of these chicks? Or just her own? Not every broody hen will accept chicks she didn't hatch

Hi JacinLarkwell,
She had 11 of her own and the other 8 were from another hen

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hi JacinLarkwell,
She had 11 of her own and the other 8 were from another hen

But did she hatch them all herself or were they hatched and then given to her? Usually a hen will consider every egg under her as hers, even if they're not at all, but she will rarely consider random babies to be hers. And any that are not hers ate competition for hers and need to be eliminated

 

[Doo]

But did she hatch them all herself or were they hatched and then given to her? Usually a hen will consider every egg under her as hers, even if they're not at all, but she will rarely consider random babies to be hers. And any that are not hers ate competition for hers and need to be eliminated

She hatched the 11 herself and the others were not

 

[abpatchy]

Sneaking chicks under a broody hen does not always work. I would take one or two chicks from the 11 and put it with the one chick that is left over and raise them in a brooder. Or buy some more chicks if they are available. The single chick should not be alone if possible.

 

[raingarden]

Our feral yard hens tend to hatch chicks within a day or two of each other. I think it a survival strategy. When there are three or four clutches of a dozen chicks running around it gets sort of hectic at feeding time. The all look pretty much the same. Chicks will get confused and take up with a different clutch when the feed is gone and they are regrouping. The hens don't seem to be able to keep perfect track of how many they have or who belongs to them and who doesn't.

 

[Doo]

Sneaking chicks under a broody hen does not always work. I would take one or two chicks from the 11 and put it with the one chick that is left over and raise them in a brooder. Or buy some more chicks if they are available. The single chick should not be alone if possible.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[aart]

She hatched the 11 herself and the others were not

Maybe I missed it, but why were the other birds chicks not with her?