polish hen attacking newborn chicks.

[TheKernel]

Hi all, my two Polish hens have both laid eggs in the same nest...21 altogether.

Today 3 of them hatched and the one i could see appeared to be healthy however when I checked them later his neck was bleeding and he was dead. I then found another 2 under one of the hens both unfortunately bleeding, one dead and one bleeding with a huge hole in his head so we had to euthanase him. I watched for a while and saw one of the hens trying to attack the fourth as it hatched so I've removed the hatchling and he's doing great.

Any ideas why she would attack them and how I can stop it? I tried removing the aggressive hen but the placid one wouldn't go near the chick so he was very cold.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Letting a hen hatch can be problematic even if everything seems right. Some hens don't know what chicks are and don't want them. Letting 2 sit together often goes terribly wrong as neither hen sometimes doesn't recognize the chicks, especially if it's moving between the hens. I would pull all chicks as they hatch and brood them myself.