Will a hen steal another hen's baby chick?

[outdoorbunny]

This may be a silly question but will a hen steal another's baby chick? I've been raising chickens for the last 4 years. I have 46 hens and 2 roosters. Right now I have five broody hens and they have been sitting on eggs from 3 weeks ago to just a few days. Unfortunately since I have so many hens, they all keep laying eggs in the broody hens nests so I don't know which eggs are about to hatch. Plus all the broody hens keep playing musical nests and each day they are laying on a different pile of eggs. Normally I separate my broodies but my brooder house has 16 baby chicks running around that I ordered through the mail.

I know that some of the eggs are 21 plus days old and may be ready to hatch. This afternoon I went out to the barn with my dog, Logan, and one of my Golden Muran's went all "Matrix" on him. My poor dog didn't know what was happening. It was pretty funny. That's when I heard the little chirping of a baby chick and sure enough, the Muran was protecting a baby. The thing is, the Muran wasn't one of my broody hens. Will a hen steal another hen's baby chick? Or do I have a sneaky hen with a secret nest?

Oh and All of my 5 broody hens are still sitting on their nests with no chicks as of yet.

I was just wondering if anyone ever had this happen.

Thank you

Debra

 

[donrae]

Some will swap chicks, some think any other chicks are the devil's spawn, it just depends on the bird. sounds like you had a stealth broody to me

Just a tip for the future, to make things easier---mark the broody hen's clutch with a sharpie. Give her all the eggs you want her to hatch at once and draw a circle all the way around the egg. Check under the hen each day and remove any unmarked eggs that were added by other hens, this will prevent staggered hatches and get you better results.

 

[jacksprat1980]

We had an australorp hen hatch out three chicks 9 days ago.

The day the chicks hatched a Sussex hen (which had shown no signs of brooding beforehand) started showing crazy amounts of interest. She joined mum in the nest and was pulling the hatching eggs underneath herself.

I locked her out (mum was still in the main coop) to give them space and the Sussex lost it, she spent the whole day trying to work out how to get back in.

Since then she's slept in the nest with the family, follows them around the yard etc, ignoring the rest of the flock.

Yesterday the Sussex was actually trying to get the chicks separated from the mum at one stage and was actually getting cranky with the poor australorp for going near her chicks.

has anyone seen anything like this?!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes, hens will steal chicks.

Usually it is broody type hens that suddenly decide they want to be a mom without the work (of having sat 24/7 for 3 weeks).

I've also had non-broody hens take over the child care when mum bailed early.

That's why I separate and isolate any important hatches in my brooding pen so the broodies, and other wannabes, don't swap, steal, and generally create havoc.

In my main coop hatches, with the mixed breeds, I've had all sorts of swapping and finagling...some beneficial, a lot not. My wonderful roo keeps most non-helpful interaction at bay with the hatched chicks. He's a very good daddy.

I also mark my eggs and set them on the same day so I don't get staggered hatches (which is what the original OP is suffering from). I put the date set on it so I can look and know when they should be hatching as I am always forgetting when I've set the silly eggs. I can also watch and see if eggs begin to migrate to another hen who has a different date.

LofMc

 

[nataly214]

Yes it is possible. I had two broody silkie hens who successfully became mothers with a chick each(though both the chicks preferred one of the hens more than the other). The whole time they were sitting on eggs and for the first week after the chicks hatched they were in a separate coop. I reintroduced them all back to the flock and all was well. Then two week ago (at this point the chicks are about 5-6 weeks old) I noticed my polish hen sitting comfily on the ground in the coop near the two hen moms and their chicks. It was chilly that day (about -6°c) and the chicks were looking cold but their mothers were trying to teach them how to forge... that was the first time I noticed something funky.
Then just last week I noticed the same grey polish hen making the motherly clucking noises to call the chicks (who are now about 6 weeks old) and give them food. At first I could believe it was her clucking but sure enough the two mothers were not. Then, today I went to go close me chickens for the night and checked up on the chicks and sure enough the two silkie hens and there chicks were piled into one corner of the coop along with my grey polish (who had one of the chicks awkwardly tucked under her wing) I thought this was hilarious but also thought it could never happen, well it did!

 

[ChickensTurkeys]

Hi there! Thank you all for the broody hens information! It is very helpful!

However, I have another question! As of a few days ago, I have four chickens (Pour Dale, a hen, was killed by an unknown predator we assume was a hawk or bobcat). Three Speckled Sussex hens- Martha, Maureen, and Kate- and one bright orange smaller rooster ( I am unaware of his breed)-Cisco. Well, Maureen became broody near three weeks ago and this evening is her chicks' due date. When I go down to check on her I hear her chicks peeping and she looks very pleased. But, she is on 24 eggs!! She has this many because I have a hunch she stole some of the eggs that the other hens laid and left. Earlier, today I put an artificial egg in a different nesting spot because Kate was constantly trying to get in the area Maureen was in when I was putting the chicken cam in; she even proceeded to fly on top of the coop to get in the blocked off area! Anyways, after I put the artificial egg in the different nesting box, Kate ran to the egg, started making motherly sounds, and was delicately pulling the fake egg under her as if it were her own.

My question is, could I take half of Maureen's soon-to-be hatched eggs as of today and put them in a different nesting box, and let Kate sit on them?

But are they already bonding with their mom while peeping? Will Maureen mark me as a thief?

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Hi there! Thank you all for the broody hens information! It is very helpful!

However, I have another question! As of a few days ago, I have four chickens (Pour Dale, a hen, was killed by an unknown predator we assume was a hawk or bobcat). Three Speckled Sussex hens- Martha, Maureen, and Kate- and one bright orange smaller rooster ( I am unaware of his breed)-Cisco. Well, Maureen became broody near three weeks ago and this evening is her chicks' due date. When I go down to check on her I hear her chicks peeping and she looks very pleased. But, she is on 24 eggs!! She has this many because I have a hunch she stole some of the eggs that the other hens laid and left. Earlier, today I put an artificial egg in a different nesting spot because Kate was constantly trying to get in the area Maureen was in when I was putting the chicken cam in; she even proceeded to fly on top of the coop to get in the blocked off area! Anyways, after I put the artificial egg in the different nesting box, Kate ran to the egg, started making motherly sounds, and was delicately pulling the fake egg under her as if it were her own.

My question is, could I take half of Maureen's soon-to-be hatched eggs as of today and put them in a different nesting box, and let Kate sit on them?

But are they already bonding with their mom while peeping? Will Maureen mark me as a thief?

Wait until all the original eggs have hatched, then move the leftovers to allow your other broody to finish the hatch. This is your best case scenario.

This is an old thread. If you can't find answers in old threads, you're more likely to get better responses to your questions by starting new threads.

 

[ChickensTurkeys]

Wait until all the original eggs have hatched, then move the leftovers to allow your other broody to finish the hatch. This is your best case scenario.

This is an old thread. If you can't find answers in old threads, you're more likely to get better responses to your questions by starting new threads.

I never thought of that! Sounds good! Thank you for your time!