Need help with rejected chicks

[JAL]

I am a first-time 'midwife' with a first-time broody. One of my EE hens became stubornly broody. I moved her to a Anna White a-frame next to our chicken run. Everything was good until eggs started hatching...

The first chick was pecked, and I did not see it until it was injured. I quickly set up the brooder and am hoping that she will make it. The second was also rejected, but I moved her to the brooder in time. The third is accepted and protected! Everything has been good for 24 hours.

What is my best path? Should I try to slip the healthy chick back under the hen at night? If I leave the healthy chick in with the injured one, I am concerned about additional pecking. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Does the hen have complete privacy where she is brooding?

Be honest...have you been checking a lot on progression? (We're all curious).

Some hens are poor mothers. Other are nervous mothers. If they are interfered with by another hen, or interrupted, they can become aggressive with the chicks (another hen barging in, too much checking by us people). Some hens are really nervous hatchers and react strongly to a hatched chick disturbing unhatched chicks.

It sounds like you have her isolation, so I will assume her behavior is not reaction to too much interference but possibly over reacting to a hatched chick disturbing unhatched chicks.

If she has settled with this final hatched chick, and there are no more to hatch, then when the older 2 are ready, I would reintroduce them at night and watch.

Sometimes hens know there is something amiss with a chick and will reject it. Other times, there is no figuring out why they accept one chick but not another. The only time I have seen that consistently is with interference interrupting the hen. She may transfer her aggression to being disturbed to the moving chicks.

Good luck. Let us know how its going.

LofMc

 

[JAL]

Thank you so much for the advice. I have been thinking and reading a lot to try to determine if there was anything I could have done better and what I need to do from here on out.

Yes - I likely looked in on her too much, but not enough to prevent the first one from being seriously pecked. I did not open the coop except to provide fresh water and food. The hen can see the rest of the flock, but is safely separated from them. She has some privacy by virtue of a 30 gallon tub on its side for a nesting area. She did get moved into the separate coop a bit late so that may have disturbed her. I was trying to let her brood in the hen house, but realized the other chickens were bothering her too much.

The heat in Oklahoma has been over 100 for many days. The coop is shaded by large trees, and we have fans running. The first two chicks she rejected were a bit small, so may have hatched early? The temperature may have also effected the hen's disposition...

She has a few more eggs, but they may or may not be viable. She is taking excellent care of the last one that hatched.

I really appreciate your input. I will keep the first two in the brooder until the pecked one is healed. I am applying neosporin. Then, I will try to introduce the chicks at night and watch. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out!

 

[JAL]

UPDATE! The mama hen hatched one more and took good care of the two she did not reject. Today, one week later, the two rejected chicks were reunited at about 4am. In the morning, the hen immediately took to mothering them. All four chicks are running around together, and those that were rejected are warming up to the hen.

All the postings at this site helped tremendously. Thank you all so much!

 

[SmiYa0126]

UPDATE! The mama hen hatched one more and took good care of the two she did not reject. Today, one week later, the two rejected chicks were reunited at about 4am. In the morning, the hen immediately took to mothering them. All four chicks are running around together, and those that were rejected are warming up to the hen.

All the postings at this site helped tremendously. Thank you all so much!

What great news!!!!