FARM chickens

[savurselvs]

we are losing all the babies
we have mottled java and americana
the coup wasnt separated until i lost the 1st 3 chicks,(clue?) so they are cross bred

i feared the others maybe the roosters were killing the babies and now all the sitting moms are secure
we have 5 javas that are sitting and we keep finding dead babies
alive one day dead the next.

we are gonna take anymore we find up and dryed off to a brooder inside the garage.

any thoughts

 

[watchin]

Are the setting hens separated? If they can get together, they will sometimes fight over the nests & end up breaking eggs & fighting over the babies, usually killing most of them. If you don't have too many eggs, I'd throw out all but one hen & put all the eggs under her. She should be protected from the other hens getting to her nest.

This won't work if they all have separate nests & have been setting different lengths of time.

 

[davidinthewilderness]

Cross-breeding should not be the problem. If it was roosters or bully hens you would see evidence of pecking. Are your hens first time moms? Usually moms are very protective of the chicks, although not always the brightest stars. Do the chicks appear healthy or emaciated?

Sorry to hear about you chick loss. We had a chick loss of a different variety this year :-(

Celeste

 

[naturallysweet]

While I occasionally let a hen with chicks stay with the main flock, I usually move them to a different pen for a few weeks. A dog kennel works just fine if you don't have a separate building or pen.

Besides, baby chicks really need different food than the main flock. Your egg layer feed isn't good for them at all, and most adult chicken waterers won't work for baby chicks. Either they jump in and get drowned, or they can't get water and then die.

 

[Kathy in WV]

What are you feeding the chicks, and how is the water set up for them?
Are the moms taking them outside?
My chicks do best when momis free to take them out on grass in the sun all day. I have 2game hens running with chicks right now. From experience, I know if I pin them up I'll end up with sick chicks.......... don't ask me why...... i don't know........

 

[savurselvs]

too many eggs and start dates to reduce to one hen.
the coup is 3.5 feet off the ground so no they dont go outside.
they are not appearing pecked at and a couple were beautiful before I found them dead
there is a water can 1 gallon and the feed in the coup is medicated chick feed.

maybe a sickness
maybe the brooder will save some.

 

[Jakk]

I incubate and hatch my own eggs. I haven't had a setting hen but from what I have heard they need to be separated from the rest of the flock until the babies are old enough (big enough) to be in with the general population. It's most likely the other hens that are killing the babies. I have never had a rooster hurt or pay much attention to my babies. It's always the other hens that are chasing them and pecking them. I had a rooster that would cover the babies with his wing, he was very protective.

 

[Kathy in WV]

Texas in June???
Maybe it's nothing more than overheating for them? I'm stumped...

 

[imaginative]

the coup is 3.5 feet off the ground so no they dont go outside.

Do they have a run? Adequate square footage/bird(min of 4 s/f in coop and 10 s/f per bird in run)?

 

[Terriannie]

We had the same problem with 4 new chicks held in a separate, smaller coop till partially grown then introduced to our other 6 hens. One then three were attacked and killed.

Talking to an old farmer about that, he said if you place the newcomers into the coop at NIGHT, it makes a difference. He didn't know why but next time when I get over the trauma we'll try that. If not, then we'll be building another coop I guess.

 

[imaginative]

"Talking to an old farmer about that, he said if you place the newcomers into the coop at NIGHT, it makes a difference. He didn't know why but next time when I get over the trauma we'll try that. If not, then we'll be building another coop I guess."

I heard the same thing. Chickens dont move much at night and apparently they get used to the newbies because they smell them while on their perch at night

 

[Terriannie]

"Talking to an old farmer about that, he said if you place the newcomers into the coop at NIGHT, it makes a difference. He didn't know why but next time when I get over the trauma we'll try that. If not, then we'll be building another coop I guess."

I heard the same thing. Chickens dont move much at night and apparently they get used to the newbies because they smell them while on their perch at night

Whew! Glad I'm not the only one who heard that. The reason makes sense to me!!

 

[Gercarson]

"Talking to an old farmer about that, he said if you place the newcomers into the coop at NIGHT, it makes a difference. He didn't know why but next time when I get over the trauma we'll try that. If not, then we'll be building another coop I guess."

I heard the same thing. Chickens dont move much at night and apparently they get used to the newbies because they smell them while on their perch at night

They may "smell them" while on the roost, but you can bet that ANY new chicken introduced to a flock - no matter when - will have to be taught its place. The term "pecking order" really means something to chickens because they invented it. There WILL be a reckoning for the "new" birds.

 

[LightEcho]

Gotta be separated or given free run outside in a safe zone. I am trying to get a hen brooding. Once I get a hatch, they are alone in a cage to themselves. Mom will take care of them if there is easy feed and water available.

 

[savurselvs]

so the 5 sitting hens all need to be alone with there chicks as in 5 brooding cages?? they are all the same breed

 

[Wise Owl]

Breed has nothing to do with it. You could bring in a dozen and turn them loose in the same pen and the "owners" of that pen WILL attack the new folk.

When I was raising chickens, they were all free range except at night. I had one hen who took off to the fence row for a month to have her brood. She came back with 21 chicks all lined up behind her. Never lost a one of them as she took them into the barn in a seperate area from the rest of the hens and sat on them at night.
If I had had them all in a coop with just one run for them, they probably wouldn't have made it.
SO, if you want your babies to survive I suggest you put them into another area where they will be safe. You can reduce the space needed by putting up chicken wire in your hen house and keeping the broody hens on one side and the rest of the flock on the other.

I know folks who don't introduce new birds to the flock until they are full grown. And they keep them along side the other flock so the smell is there. That way they don't get beat up on by the older birds.

 

[willowlady]

Last August we had a hen go broody; wouldn't unbrood. So we went and got some day-old chicks, three, and placed them underneath her late at night after the hens had all settled down. In the morning, she was a bona fide mommy. She brought the babies out for the first time three days later, and while there was a little pestering by the non-broody hens, the rooster and mom soon sorted that out. Within a couple of weeks, all the hens regarded the chicks as part of the flock, and protected them. That mommy was the best little chicken mommy, even though the chicks and hens weren't even the same breed. Our primary flock of six is Buff Rock; the newbies were CA Leghorn. We never made any attempt to separate them. Go figure.

 

[savurselvs]

Breed has nothing to do with it. You could bring in a dozen and turn them loose in the same pen and the "owners" of that pen WILL attack the new folk.

When I was raising chickens, they were all free range except at night. I had one hen who took off to the fence row for a month to have her brood. She came back with 21 chicks all lined up behind her. Never lost a one of them as she took them into the barn in a seperate area from the rest of the hens and sat on them at night.
If I had had them all in a coop with just one run for them, they probably wouldn't have made it.
SO, if you want your babies to survive I suggest you put them into another area where they will be safe. You can reduce the space needed by putting up chicken wire in your hen house and keeping the broody hens on one side and the rest of the flock on the other.

I know folks who don't introduce new birds to the flock until they are full grown. And they keep them along side the other flock so the smell is there. That way they don't get beat up on by the older birds.

the 5 brooding hens are separated and have their own run as well.