Hard Lesson About Wild Jungle Fowl Mamas

[Jessgitalong]

It’s a sad day.

My wild jungle fowl rescue went broody. None of my other hens do that, so it was exciting! I had a collection of eggs to incubate. I gave her some fake eggs because this was her first full-on brood, and I wanted to be sure she’d be consistent. In the meantime, I picked the perfect eggs. I learned how to adjust my incubator just right for my climate, and when lockdown time came, I gave her 6 of the eggs. I kept 4 in the incubator.

I followed the advice of other threads and just let her sit in the coop, with the flock around, to hatch her eggs.

As soon as there was a hatch, I ran an incubator baby over to the hen, and she accepted it. The next morning, I had another one hatch so I took it to her, and again she accepted it. That’s when I found a dead hatchling other than the ones I just gave her. I know this happens.

I had a brunch to attend, but as soon as I got back, I found three more dead chicks. 2 were still alive and under her wings. Not knowing what happened, I sat and observed. She still had one more unhatched egg I had given her. The two chicks were pushed out as she checked and cleaned the remaining egg! I grabbed the chicks and took them to where I could set up a brooding plate for them. Got them situated and found her off the remaining egg. Grabbed that and placed it into the incubator.

After that, I started cleaning out the nesting box. Under the bedding, there was one more dead chick. This bring us to a total of 5 dead chicks!

I checked with chat GPT and it said that wild jungle fowl are less predictable in a coop setting than domestic breeds.

I had assumed that my hen’s natural mothering instincts would kick in, and the chicks would be well-reared, just as she was when we found her and put her under our brooding silkie. Perhaps she would have, except I misjudged the situation.

Several times, I have witnessed a wild jungle fowl hatching her brood, and it’s nothing like how things work in a coop. She is secluded, hiding in the brush. She’s frozen, trying to stay invisible and undisturbed until her eggs hatch.

I learned a valuable lesson today.
I understand now why our set up didn’t work, and it wasn’t her fault. She was confused.

I will allow her to do this again, without interference, in a secluded area. I want her to have a successful hatching. I want motherhood for her. I have faith she will be a good mother.

For now, we both need time to grieve.

 

[Perris]

 

[Altairsky]

I'm sure she will succeed on her next attempt. Just try to resist the temptation to interfere. I know it's hard, but the less you touch her, the better.
Also keep in mind that when you try something new, it can go terribly good, or terribly wrong, and everything in between. So be prepared. Whatever happens, when you're doing natural breeding, it's always better to let nature run its course. Even if it goes awful, it will still be a valuable experience for a young broody so she can learn and improve.

 

[Jessgitalong]

On the upside, look at these two!

 

[redinator]

On the upside, look at these two!

I have to stop looking at chick pics . . .I have 19 in the brooder and always want more . . . . they're adorable.

 

[FunClucks]

Even with domestic chickens, some are excellent broody mothers, and some really suck at it. And it seems to be genetic specific to the individual chickens, not a breed-only type of characteristic. For instance, my Starlight Green Egger (commercial hatchery production green egger who is not supposed to go broody) is an excellent broody. My French Black Copper Maran (heritage breed from a commercial hatchery, supposed to be good mothers?) was a mediocre mother who let half her eggs break in the nest and didn't defend the chicks from other hens. I won't be letting her sit again.

So your wild jungle fowl might have been confused. (likely, based on what you've shared and what I know of jungle fowl)

Or she might just be a bad mother. It's hard to tell.

In this case, letting her try again in an environment more reflective of the wild sounds like an excellent path forward.

Enjoy your surviving chicks!

 

[Lukers]

It’s a sad day.

My wild jungle fowl rescue went broody. None of my other hens do that, so it was exciting! I had a collection of eggs to incubate. I gave her some fake eggs because this was her first full-on brood, and I wanted to be sure she’d be consistent. In the meantime, I picked the perfect eggs. I learned how to adjust my incubator just right for my climate, and when lockdown time came, I gave her 6 of the eggs. I kept 4 in the incubator.

I followed the advice of other threads and just let her sit in the coop, with the flock around, to hatch her eggs.

As soon as there was a hatch, I ran an incubator baby over to the hen, and she accepted it. The next morning, I had another one hatch so I took it to her, and again she accepted it. That’s when I found a dead hatchling other than the ones I just gave her. I know this happens.

I had a brunch to attend, but as soon as I got back, I found three more dead chicks. 2 were still alive and under her wings. Not knowing what happened, I sat and observed. She still had one more unhatched egg I had given her. The two chicks were pushed out as she checked and cleaned the remaining egg! I grabbed the chicks and took them to where I could set up a brooding plate for them. Got them situated and found her off the remaining egg. Grabbed that and placed it into the incubator.

After that, I started cleaning out the nesting box. Under the bedding, there was one more dead chick. This bring us to a total of 5 dead chicks!

I checked with chat GPT and it said that wild jungle fowl are less predictable in a coop setting than domestic breeds.

I had assumed that my hen’s natural mothering instincts would kick in, and the chicks would be well-reared, just as she was when we found her and put her under our brooding silkie. Perhaps she would have, except I misjudged the situation.

Several times, I have witnessed a wild jungle fowl hatching her brood, and it’s nothing like how things work in a coop. She is secluded, hiding in the brush. She’s frozen, trying to stay invisible and undisturbed until her eggs hatch.

I learned a valuable lesson today.
I understand now why our set up didn’t work, and it wasn’t her fault. She was confused.

I will allow her to do this again, without interference, in a secluded area. I want her to have a successful hatching. I want motherhood for her. I have faith she will be a good mother.

For now, we both need time to grieve.

I'd say let her try again, and maybe she'd be better if she was in a more natural spot to do it, for example, I have a marans ancona cross (beautiful little hen) that loves to set in a weedy corner of my garden and she has hatched 2 broods this way successfully, but her first in the coop was a total flop, and i gave her 1 live chick to a cochin hen that was hatching hers at the same time, so let her go again, and good luck

 

[McChooky]

Lack of privacy can make even the most determined broody hen get stressed and do crazy things. Sorry for all the chicks you lost! I hope the two that lived will continue to thrive and make up for your loss!