HELP!!! mother killing day old chicks!

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hi,

my eggs have hatched today and i have gone round to find 2 dead and bloody chicks. she has killed them. under her i have also found a live chick un injured and 2 eggs pipping. what should i do? she is now sitting on them still but i dont trust her not to kill the others?

i have never had this happen and need advice on what to do quickly! thanks
 
Hello, has she had chicks before? Sometimes they will "try and help them out if first time mothers" and do more damage- i would keep an eye on her- try not to disturb her too much and let the others hatch- them see how she goes- motherhood doesn't come naturally to all first time mums!
regards, David
 
thankyou for the advice david. yes she is a first time mum. big shock for me this morning not a pretty sight but what you said about her helping them to hatch out seems more realistic. i thought she had attacked them?
i have been checking her all day and after taking the dead ones out she has got two more that have hatched under her who are both fine and she seems to have settled down more now. they are cheeping and she is clucking back to them.
im just worried now that she will turn on the other chicks. x
 
Sometimes they can reject chicks and peck them / lose the motherly instinct but this is usually when you add chicks under a broody rather than have them hatch under the hen. Chicks and mum need to 'key' but once they have, all should be fine and she should protect them.

I'd say, if she is sat on the eggs and hatched them, she's perhaps not quite keyed to her brood - perhaps the chicks hatched quickly and she saw them as a threat / didn't key / associate them as being her own and killed them.

If the chicks she killed hadn't fluffed up and were still curled up they could have been killed by her trying to help out as David says.

From what you say now, if she is 'talking' to the second two, I'd say she has made the bond and certainly after 24 hours this will be very strong so you should be able to relax a little.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!
 
hi,

we have just been back down and she is being very protective now. chicks both fine still. the chicks that were dead were half fluff and half wet and had both been scalped on the back of the head. either way she seems to be doing great this evening and there are still 2 eggs left to hatch which hopefully will as the others came early and these eggs are only a bit late.
will let you know how its going tomorrow. fingers crossed!x thanks
 
How are the chicks? I really hope that your broody is ok with them as it must have been an awful shock to find them like that.
 
yes it was not nice especially when you are expecting to find a cute little chick to find a mashed up one was horrible but later in the day when i went to check them and they were both snuggled with her and she was talking to them and protecting them it was a huge relief even if i still dont trust her.

was a horrible situation as i didnt know what to do for the best. i could have taken them away from her and put them under the heat lamp so i knew they were safe but then the broody hen would have never learned. think its been a stressfull day for them and me and i hope tomorrow is better!

the positive thing is as they are cream legbars i can tell straight away that the two she does still have are clearly little ladies! as for the two that died they were too mangled to really be able to tell but i think they may have been boys.

what a day! think i need a shower and my duvet! x
 
Sorry to hear about the chicks, hope that all is well now. It can be a shock for 1st timers, but is usually ok in the end.
 
huge relief this morning as all is well and two more eggs hatched over night!! i now have three cream legbar girls under her and a laced wyandotte x cream legbar who i dont know the sex of and is grey.

i think going on the fact that out of 6 eggs the three i have are ladies the chances of the two she killed being boys is quite high so altogether a 6 out of 6 hatch followed but 3 healthy girls is pretty good in my opinion considering on how things started off!

just got to wait for another broody and i will set another batch and start the three week wait again!
 
all fine tonight, i have seen them eating the chick crumbs but i havent seen them drinking yet. should i perswade her to take them out now as she doesnt seem to be leaving the nest yet??
 
mums been taking them out for the last two days all good now after a very rocky start!
 
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