LaurenRitz
Crowing
I let 2 broody hens sit, and got 7 chicks. Mama1 has 6, Mamatoo only had 1. The last hatched 2 days ago.
Mamatoo has never brooded before. She trampled eggs, ate eggs, squashed hatching eggs (although that one was my fault) and in general wasn't a good mom.
She hatched 1 chick and she hasn't been a good mom that way either. She clucks, she's been teaching the baby, but she'll just wander away and expect her chick to find her. Yesterday she was trying to get her chick up on the high roost.
Anyway, I came home this afternoon and the baby was dead. No idea what happened, it could have been just about anything.
When I got home she was still keeping it warm, bokking at it. I took it away, and I think on some level she understands, because she didn't try to peck at me.
So my question is, what normally happens when a broody loses her chick after hatch? Go broody again? Grieve for a while? Go back to normal flock life? What has been your experience?
Mamatoo has never brooded before. She trampled eggs, ate eggs, squashed hatching eggs (although that one was my fault) and in general wasn't a good mom.
She hatched 1 chick and she hasn't been a good mom that way either. She clucks, she's been teaching the baby, but she'll just wander away and expect her chick to find her. Yesterday she was trying to get her chick up on the high roost.
Anyway, I came home this afternoon and the baby was dead. No idea what happened, it could have been just about anything.
When I got home she was still keeping it warm, bokking at it. I took it away, and I think on some level she understands, because she didn't try to peck at me.
So my question is, what normally happens when a broody loses her chick after hatch? Go broody again? Grieve for a while? Go back to normal flock life? What has been your experience?
