Ones of my baby chicks with broody mum died - 1 week old

[NarrawalleeChickens]

Hey everybody,

This afternoon I went to check on my broody mum and her chicks and they were outside in there private coop. One of them was being dragged from under mum and had died, it dropped off her in a few moments and she trampled the dead baby slightly . The chicks are about a week old and their were 3 of them, now 2. What cause have happened. I have given them a few meal worms, could this have killed the baby. They are in an omlet eglu with a secure outdoor run. Could she have accidentally crushed the week old chick in her leg? Could it have died of cold? Don't want anything to happen to the other little ones. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Named "Gouda" the one on the far left is the chick that died. This is them at 2 days old. It has been wet weather the last few days as it is winter here in Aus, but their coop had been moved undercover during the heavy rain so they could go outside and stay dry.

Cheers

 

[Lorax]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I don't know the answer but I had a very similar thing happen, one of my two chicks just died at about ten days old. I was told it was very unlikely the mother hen would have trampled on her. We also have an Omlet Eglu (and Cube for the others) and have successfully kept chickens in them for over a decade. I think it's just one of those things, upsetting though.

 

[NarrawalleeChickens]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I don't know the answer but I had a very similar thing happen, one of my two chicks just died at about ten days old. I was told it was very unlikely the mother hen would have trampled on her. We also have an Omlet Eglu (and Cube for the others) and have successfully kept chickens in them for over a decade. I think it's just one of those things, upsetting though.

Thanks Lorax, I'm sorry about your chick also. Yeah it was super upsetting. They are the first chicks we have hatched ourselves and seemed to be going so well. I'm hoping it was just a really unfortunate accident and nothing that I could've prevented. Do you put guards up around the edges of the eglu run, I was worried that maybe it could've got its head caught in the mesh maybe?

 

[Lorax]

Thanks Lorax, I'm sorry about your chick also. Yeah it was super upsetting. They are the first chicks we have hatched ourselves and seemed to be going so well. I'm hoping it was just a really unfortunate accident and nothing that I could've prevented. Do you put guards up around the edges of the eglu run, I was worried that maybe it could've got its head caught in the mesh maybe?

Neither of us will really know for sure but I've made my peace with it in that I really don't think I could have done anything and I doubt you could, either. I certainly played around with thoughts for days after...But, chicks die unfortunately just like adults hens, often with no obvious reason. I think our chick definitely died during the night cos it was kinda flattened when we found it. My children were upset at first thinking the mum had squashed it but I thought that unlikely, far more likely it died and was then squashed.

No we don't have anything around our run. The first 24 hours I did worry the chicks could squeeze through but by 48 hours they were too big. These were the first chicks we hatched also so I really do understand how you must feel.

It sounds to me as if you've given your mother hen and her chickens a great start and a good home. We can't control everything that happens, especially not in nature. I hope you feel more philosophical soon.

 

[NarrawalleeChickens]

Neither of us will really know for sure but I've made my peace with it in that I really don't think I could have done anything and I doubt you could, either. I certainly played around with thoughts for days after...But, chicks die unfortunately just like adults hens, often with no obvious reason. I think our chick definitely died during the night cos it was kinda flattened when we found it. My children were upset at first thinking the mum had squashed it but I thought that unlikely, far more likely it died and was then squashed.

No we don't have anything around our run. The first 24 hours I did worry the chicks could squeeze through but by 48 hours they were too big. These were the first chicks we hatched also so I really do understand how you must feel.

It sounds to me as if you've given your mother hen and her chickens a great start and a good home. We can't control everything that happens, especially not in nature. I hope you feel more philosophical soon.

Thanks Lorax, you've really made me feel a ton better about what has happened. Hopefully everything ends up well with my other chicks and yours also. I will update you in a week or so on the others. Thanks again!

 

[rosemarythyme]

One of them was being dragged from under mum and had died, it dropped off her in a few moments

Would the mama happen to be a silkie by chance, a very fluffy one? Rare, but I've seen mention of chicks accidentally getting tangled in a silkie's fluff and dying from it.

 

[NarrawalleeChickens]

Would the mama happen to be a silkie by chance, a very fluffy one? Rare, but I've seen mention of chicks accidentally getting tangled in a silkie's fluff and dying from it.

Hmmm, yes she is a Silkie @rosemarythyme
Thanks for the input, that definitely could've been what happened as the chick was being dragged from her fluff when I found it