my hen hatched 9 eggs while I was away on vacation. My chicken sitter made sure they had started food available and such. The first day out of their nest, 1 baby died. The day we were coming home from vacation, 3 babies died. Now 2 days I've been home (I haven't been able to spend much time out there because of picking up my daughter and the dogs and trying to unpack), 2 more babies are dead this morning. My mama hen is very aggressive when I try to take her babies, but I don't think she's teaching them how to eat. It doesn't look like they have touched her food.
Mama is only 1 year old. She went broody and hid her nest so we didn't even know where she was. Is she too young to be a mother? This is our third mama hen we have had and the other 2 had very successful mama/chick relationships and all chicks survived. Is she just too young? I'm going to try to catch the babies but mama is very mean now. Any insight?
Mama is only 1 year old. She went broody and hid her nest so we didn't even know where she was. Is she too young to be a mother? This is our third mama hen we have had and the other 2 had very successful mama/chick relationships and all chicks survived. Is she just too young? I'm going to try to catch the babies but mama is very mean now. Any insight?