My Leghorn just killed her 1st egg that hatched in her 2nd Brood????

[cjatthefarm]

This is the second time this leghorn has gone broody. Her first time only produce one chick. But she was a good mom! Earlier in July I stopped her for a week or more before I let her finally have 3 eggs. She was determined, so I gave in.

Anyway, tonight, Sunday before dark I went in the coop and heard tiny chirps! The baby was on the floor in a pile of shavings! Outside the nest. Now, looking back I realize she must have 'thrown' it there......

I put it under her--she ignored it. I went to get the large pet carrier to isolate her for the other two to hatch. When I put them; the baby and the two eggs inside---she was mad!!

I looked in on her about 30 minutes later, the baby was not under her, and it was dead. A tiny hole was in the side of it's precious little head.

I am flabbergasted. It is the most horrible thing I could imagine she would do! The chick was a little brown EE. Her other chick was also an EE, but she was white, and turned into one that is the pretty golden fronts & white.

So, perhaps there was something wrong with it---or she didn't want a baby that didn't LOOK like her????!!!

 

[Gypsy07]

Well, I don't imagine it would be the colour thing. Broody hens hatch all colours of chicks and even guinea fowl, ducklings and goslings. They seem to mostly be happy with whatever hatches out. And if your Leghorn was a good mother before then it's not like she's one of those hens that always kills their chicks. Maybe it did have something wrong with it. But if it had managed to hatch out all by itself you'd assume it was healthy enough. I guess you'll just never know for sure. But be super careful with the last two chicks!

 

[cjatthefarm]

UPDATE!

Gypsy07--thanks for your answer. However, I believe my leghorn is a racist

This morning I check on her and hear the peeps. An over in the corner of the pet carrier, in a pile of shavings, like the trash.....is a little brown chick.

I look under her. A skinny wet yellow chick enjoying the love & warmth of her 'mother'!

The little brown baby has been pecked, but on the hip or side. I don't know if there is internal damage, but I am so horrified I will try to pull it through.

Both babies are under a heat lamp in the carrier; and I booted mom to the curb. Not going through this again! No more broods for her!

Looking back I believe she shunned her first little one fairly soon. But I had absolutely no experience to go on. But her first little one became the golden color after several weeks.

Wow you folks ever seen any thing like this???!

 

[manybirds]

Quote:
it probably jst fell out, it happens here all the time. mom chickens don't really 'give much attention to' babies. they find them food and water and protect them and keep them warm. swithching her spots may have confused her. maybe she didn't recognize the chick and saw it as a threat?

 

[chicmom]

Wow! To think she would reject the chick because it wasn't the same color as her.....I wonder if others have seen this happen!

Will be watching this posting

 

[Wisher1000]

I'm sorry about your chick. Hatches and adoptions don't always go according to plan. I gave a broody BSL (yes, I know, she wasn't even supposed to go broody) babies from the mixed straight run bin at the local feed store. I picked some chicks for their small size and their interesting color but had no idea what they were. They were a dollar each and I had no plans to be attached to them or upset if things went badly. I even planned to give them away once she was through mothering them. The mom accepted them pretty well, she growled at them and pecked them a little at first but soon clucked contentedly and the family was fine. She did a pretty good job for two weeks, as long as I kept them in their own separate pen. As soon as I let them out to range, she went to roost with the other chickens and couldn't have cared less what happened to the chicks. I put the chicks in with some older chicks and they did fine. Now I have a beautiful Golden Campine roo and three sweet little Silver Campine hens! They are my only white egg layers and possibly my favorites of the whole flock of egg layers! Even so, I have learned that hens are often more interested in answering natures call to brood than to mother and I don't feel sorry for them for not having babies. I have a EE on the nest right now, happily setting golfballs and wooden eggs. I am letting her because it gives me a chance to pet her and tame her a little. She has always been unfriendly and flighty. Now, I try to pet her every day and she growls less and less each day. She also jumps around between three different nest boxes and seemingly doesn't know the difference! LOL, stupid bird...

 

[Hucklekree]

Sorry about your chick it's heart breaking.

I'll post this here because it pertains somewhat to color-bias in animals. I've seen it first hand with sheep. I had a ewe-though thankfully is no longer with us-kill her first lamb and shun the second one. When she squashed the first I thought it may have been an accident so I let her breed again and she shunned one of the two twins she had this year. Both lambs shunned were black and the lamb she raised was white. Maybe two times isn't enough to say for certain but I'm not up for round three so she got the boot after her lamb was weaned.

Edited to fix misspelling

 

[Gypsy07]

Colour bias in animals definitely exists. My chickens go about in groups according to colour. And our cows are the exact same. I remember a couple of years ago being astonished to see them grouped into two white Ayrshires, two brown Limi crosses with a brown calf, two black Angus Limi crosses with two black calves and two Highlanders with two fluffy calves. All in separate bunches and clearly ignoring each other. But any of our cows with different colour calves ahve never shunned them, they've always been the most attentive mothers...

 

[cjatthefarm]

Color bias. That is an explanation I can sorta (!) wrap my head around. A racist leghorn.

Thanks all. The chicks are doin' okay. The one she injured in the back will likely die. I will do the best I can; but it makes no sense to start a chicken hospital....sorry to some.....

I do think the last to hatch that she was caring for is a leghorn....gotta look at the eggs again. But her legs are pink, not slate. I am not confident enough in this hen to return the yellow chick to her. Besides, the injured baby needs her sis.

Say prayers, I really hope this little one pulls through....

 

[brandibaby23]

I have had this happen to my babies all summer long with two of my EE hens and a white mixed hen. I haven't noticed it to be color, but they have DEFINATELY Thrown the chicks out of the nest box after they have hatched!!!!! I was going to write and see if this was happening to anyone else. I have had 4 groups of chics this has happened to this summer, never seen it before. The first groups of chicks was earlier in June she hatched and cared for them for about 2 weeks then abandoned the chicks left them on the floor of the coop while she got up and roosted at night SO I had to raise that group then she went broody 2 more times and I watched her peck and throw the baby out of the nest. Just today she had thrown another out and killed it, and is laying on 5 more that I guess I will again car for!!! What the H#$@!! The 2 other chickens have done the same thing.