Please help! I don't know what to do next -- UPDATE

[Chickenmaven]

It sounds like you have too much activity in the henhouse. Hens will roll eggs out of nests & crowd eachother, even in the course of normal egglaying. I worry for the chicks you do hatch, cuz we have had the unfortunate experience of non-setting hens EATING newly hatched chicks. That's part of why we isolate our setting hens.

Not much you can do now, but in the future consider isolating one hen on one nest.

 

[sourland]

Multiple hens brooding in the same nest is usually a recipe for failure. Sometimes it willl work, but more frequently they will fight over eggs- eggs get cracked and chilled, sometimes broken, bacteria build up in the nest and ruin the other eggs. You could try candling the eggs, marking them according to apparent point of development and seperate them into groupings of development. If you get in this situation again(not a good idea), mark all the eggs when the hens start setting. Any eggs added to the nest should be removed daily. If you successfully hatch some chicks, remove them along with the hen that has been setting longest. Do this as each batch of chicks hatch. Good luck.

 

[Jess N Jeff]

I post this question out of curiosity...no judgement at all because I have not ever had a broody....

Why did you not seperate your broodys and their eggs from all the other chickens? The reason I ask is because everything I've ready on here talkes about keeping broodys away from general chicken population due to chick death or egg eating.

I would think that "curious" hens might come in and try to take over a nest which could crush eggs or even kill baby chicks. Some hens just don't know what they are doing because they are young other hens just attack and kill something small and moving.

I am so sorry for your loss. I hope that someone with experience can guide you.

 

[anniemary]

No judgment rec'd here that I haven't heaped on my self! I know I was supposed to separate them, but we didn't have the means, and everyone seemed happy. It's only been lately that there are extra hens trying to get in there.

I tried to create more nesting boxes, but the hens were only interested in those five. For now, I am letting all the other hens and roosters free-range during the day. I lock them out of the coop so the broodies and chicks can have peace. Of course I have water available for everyone. At night, when the free-ranges chickens start gathering at the coop door, I let them in. By this time, the broody hens have settled in for the night and are not concerned.

We aren't having problems with eating, just the chicks aren't hatching well.

<sigh> I know we didn't do this well this time.

Its been a rough year. My little boy passed away at Christmas and we just had his burial this spring (when the snow melted) as all this was starting. So, you can imagine that we haven't been able to do things as well as we would've liked.

You guys are sooo wonderful to try and help me. I love this site! Thank you so much for your help and encouragement.

 

[anniemary]

Update:

After I said we weren't having issues with eating baby chicks, I went out to the coop and found one of our healthy babies pecked in the head to death. :-(.

I immediately got rid of all the extra hens in the coop that were trying to share the nests. I think I missed one, though. It was difficult to determine who was the real mama. I also removed all the baby chicks I could, (I missed one). They are in their own little box on the porch with a warming light.

When my husband got home, we found the baby chick I had missed with blood on the sides of her head, but she was still alive. We rescued her and put her in her own little box under the light (because one of the baby chicks is really mean already!). We then pulled all the mamas out of the nests and found yet another baby chick safe and sound...yea! She joined the others on the porch.

We removed the extra hens I missed (there were actually two). My DH is going to build a barrier to separate the mamas from the others. I think we'll just raise the baby chicks on our own until we determine that these hens are safe or we'll have to keep this new little flock separate from the rest.

I also bought an incubator so we have less loss. We'll let these mamas try to hatch these clutches as best we can and hope they are all good to their babies. Next time will be so much better!

Thanks again everyone!!

 

[beachchickie]

I wish I could help. I don't know anything at all about hatching eggs. I am so sorry for the loss of your son. May the Lord be with you and keep you.

 

[The Lisser]

Quote:
I'm so sorry for your loss.

Try not to fret over the chickens, this was a learning experience for you and you'll be better prepared in the future. We all make mistakes, that's how we learn.

Melissa