Help!! Re putting more chicks under hen

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A friend told me that if I put my chicks hatched from the incubator under my mother hen (who already has two chicks) that she would accept them. Did this very stealthily with two dry chicks last night using no light and minimum disturbance but one of the chicks has totally dissappeared - no blood or feathers nothing. Help!!! Has the mother eaten the chick somehow?? Do I pull the other chick out straight away? Very upset as the chick that dissappeared was very healthy and alert.
 
Ive had this happen, no evidence of the chick, i put it down to a rat taking the chick, could a rat get in where your hen is?
 
Possibly. Only chick wire on the front of the coop. It had crossed my mind but I'm just really worried that the hen has killed and eaten it somehow without making a mess.
 
Hi Rebecca,so sorry you've lost a chick :cry: .IMO Ameeyl is right in suggesting a rat,doubt very much the mother hen did this even with a chick that wasn't hers,she would have left evidence of the attack.A large rat could carry a chick off,and,if it was a rat will be back for more/the others.
 
Thanks for replying. Will put mother hen and babies in a rat proof enclosure tonight. So sad as the other new chick that wasn't taken is abit smaller and seems to have a third toe that curls instead of being spread out when the chick moves. The toes can be straightened but at the moment the chicks pretty unstable. Will this problem correct itself or will it always have deformed toes? Good news is the last frizzle egg in the incubator hatched overnight. Now I'm just waiting on one pekin egg but it's not due to hatch for a few more days.
 
So sorry that you lost a chick. I know how you feel because the same thing happened to me six months ago. I had a mother hen with four chicks only a day old and I put them temporarily in a hutch and went away for a couple of hours and when I brought a neighbour down to have a look at them, there were only two there. Was hard to believe that they had just vanished, but then I discovered a small hole in the wire that had been covered by grass, just enough for a stoat to put its snout in and take them. I know stoats are attracted to young chicks by their cheeping but I've never seen them or any evidence of them hanging round the property before, but I think next door's cats would have stopped any rats though. :?
 
It sounds like your chick has curly toe, it normaly is on both feet, so it sounds like yours hasnt got it bad.Its caused by a deficiency in the food, that the chick is feeding on in the egg, or bulbs that are to bright, when keeping the chicks warm. You can try and tape the toe in the right place to see if that helps, but if its unsteady now i dont think it will survive, if the taping doesnt work. If it is a rat taking your chicks, they always take the best chicks, ive breed some stunning chicks only for them to disapear.
 
Yes, it sounds very much like a rat has taken it. They will kill and and then take a chick (and can take eggs too).

I've seen chickens with bent / curly toes from birds that have been bred too closely as well - close breeding soon reveals weaknesses as well as strengths but agree with ameeyal with the other possibilities.
 
:( Sorry to hear that Jani,Rebecca and Ameeyl have had rats or a stoat take chicks.Hope your chicks curly toe does straighten Rebecca.
:) Glad your frizzle's have successfully hatched.
 
Put Mum and her two chicks in my dog crate last night so they are fine. Will purchase some rat traps - horrid animals. The poor chick with the curled toe didn't make it. I wonder if it had other internal problems as well. The frizzle eggs were given to me so I don't know how inbreed they are. One surviving incubator chick is doing well but my Pekin wouldn't take it on. Maybe she's smarter than the average chook and figured out it wasn't hers. My last egg (a Pekin) is just hatching so I hope it makes it out. Can't believe how anxious this whole business is making me! Certainly is teaching my kids about birth and death!
 
Sorry to hear about the lost chicks

I forgot you were in Aus.

Snakes can also take chicks. Opposoms (not sure how to spell) and Racoons will take chickens. Not sure if you'd have all of these but there are other things to think about as well as rats..

Tim
 
Your experience does sound stressfull to me Rebecca,makes me very greatfull that i haven't got any chicks hatching out.At least the one with the curly toe hasn't got to struggle anymore,which isn't really a lot of consolation.
 
Re the frizzles, you'll get an idea of any possible inbreeding when the full feathers are through. Depending on how they lay/sit gives a good idea. If breeding is poor the frizzle feathering will be also.
 
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