Please don’t make the same mistake as me

[BeanSprout]

My broody hatched 5 babies last week who are all doing great with her. We had some of her other eggs in the incubator (originally the 5 eggs were in the incubator and she laid two others thay she went broody on- we switched the incubator eggs and the broody eggs so she would hatch more) two days ago, one of the eggs in the incubator hatched. I introduced the chick to her and the week old babies Wednesday but she pecked at it so I brought it in. I slipped it back under her at night and it seemed fine all day yesterday, she seemed to have accepted it. This morning I noticed her pecking it again but then quickly allowing it under her without any more problems. I told my partner to keep an eye on it while I was at work. When he went out a few hours later, she had pulled it’s fluff off and likely broke its legs. It was still alive but barely. My boyfriend called me crying and made the decision to put it in the freezer as he just couldn’t bring himself to kill it himself. It was a huge mistake and I feel so sad for the tiny baby

 

[TropicalBabies]

That is rough. Your hen probably saw it as a threat or intruder and was just protecting her chicks like a good momma. There is a fine line with intro, 1 week is a big age gap, I'm sorry it did not work this time but always lessons learned I hope all of your other chicks live a safe and charmed life and you enjoy.

 

[lornalu]

Mistakes like that happen. I’ve made them also. We learn as we go. You did the best you could.