Newly Hatched Silkie Chicks.....Vanished...Without a Trace :-(

i hadd 2 broodies and each had 7chicks one mama was a big barred rock and the other a cochin frizzle some how they could tell which chicks were under each or they would decide they didn't like a certain color.the big mama killed 2 black babies which were more than likely her own so she ended up having an accident then the cochin mama had all 12 babies at first she seemed to pick on 2 white ones but before you know it there were soo many she lost track of the ones she seemed to think weren't hers and she ended up raising all of them.They were all standards and she did such a good job.She would be outside with all 12 of them trotting around the yard and all the chicks running after her.
 
First off
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Secondly, while the hens probably had a guilty snack, you might also check for rat holes.
 
Thank you, all.
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Now I'm wondering how long I can, or should, keep them inside... I wanted her to raise her babies like a normal hen would, but now I feel like I'm brooding all 3 of them (Sammie too...LOL). I figure I need to keep them for at least a week. Then maybe the babies will be big enough to at least stay away from the big girls (they grow soooo fast). Or maybe I'll keep them a month...I dunno...I'm so torn. I want them safe, but I want them to be "chickens".
 
So sorry!
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Both for the loss of the babes and some of the joy of chickens (the 2nd is temporary, I'm glad to say).

I agree about checking for rat holes . . . and snake holes. I'm glad you brought the rest in; that will give you some peace of mind.
 
Snakes like to take little chicks and eggs. A full snake won't eat everything there. Rats too.

I have chickens brood beside non-broodies and broodies who co-brood and don't lose chicks to other chickens. While there is an occassional homicidal hen, it's not common. And no, I don't cage mine off.

I did lose both chicks and eggs to snakes this year. GRRR. Fixed that. I did lose one chick who got into the coop with two brooding turkeys and the Tom. Bad outcome that.

Also the really tiny chicks can just get into cracks and crevices too easily, if they got out of the set up you had, they'd hide in tiny places and are almost impossible to find before they pass away from exposure/cold.

I'm really sorry you lost the babies. Yes, it's a great excuse to hatch more - always hatch extra in case... Hugs.
 
It just seems so unlikely to me...that it could be an outside predator. Two chicks go missing...within hours of each other...and within hours of hatching...and during the day.

Of course, I do have a very open style coop because it's regularly over 100 degrees here. It would not be hard for a rat or snake to get in.... but during the day? Wouldn't the big chickens attack it? I actually did see a tiny snake in my yard that day, but it was probably a foot long and as thin as a pencil. I don't think it could eat 2 chicks. It looked more like a chicken treat itself...LOL.

I will never know for sure if it was my chickens or a predator...I'll just do things differently next time. And as for hatching extras...these were all "extras"...LOL. We had already ordered new chicks when Sammie decided to go broody, so we put our own eggs under her "just for the fun of it". We'll probably do it again, though, and be more careful next time.
 
I, too, have used a seperation cage that was "not Fort Knox."
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I had too many setting hens and other poultry projects, so I came up with a "so-so" compromise. Bad idea.
We had to take 5 chicks away from our Silkie hen and pop 'em in a brooder box. She hatched out 7 and one went missing. We thought it had "wandered off." Dismissed that thought when DD witnessed four of our hens tearing another chick to shreds. By the time DD ran to get her dad, there was not a scap left of the chick (not even blood...) I learned a lesson right then & there. I have a secure 'brooder room' - a 4x6 closet-like structure in the corner of my coop. The walls are mostly chicken wire. I will not let a hen set, unless I can give her that room.
Sorry for your loss.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss.
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As far as a snake taking eggs or chicks in day light, I found out that they do. I was collecting eggs for a friend while she was out of town. Saw one egg in the dark back corner of a nest and reached for it. I grabbed the egg and something else that moved! Turned out to be a 4' long rat snake in the act of swallowing the egg!
The snake came back later that week and the owner shot it. She'd already rehomed it twice, she said but 3rd isn't a charm for snakes with her!

I hope you're able to find out what's happening and have better luck with the rest of the brood.
 
Quote:
Last month I was working in the coop, changing nesting stuff. When out of the ceiling dropped a five and a half foot rat snake onto the nesting shelf. Mid-day.

Oh... that's where the serama eggs went. and a bunch of others...

That snake won't be in my coop any more.

Talk about freaking out.

Yes, huge snake, yes, mid-day.
 

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