hen kills her 2 chicks

[teng]

I have this pair on its third clutch. First and second clutch went fine, i weaned 2 and 3 chicks respectively. On the 3rd clutch, the pair has 3 chicks that already went out of the nestbox, just like the 1st & 2nd clutches. Last week, coming home from work, i found the two younger chicks dead and bloodied on the cage floor, obviously killed by the hen, as I saw her bloodied throat feather . I don't know what caused this.  The oldest chick is unharmed. There was nothing changed in their cage, nestbox and diet.

Can anybody please advice/help me on how to prevent this type of this tragedy from happening again? Your thoughts please and thank you in advance.

[Hezz]

I would be concerned if these birds were onto their third clutch without the hen getting a break. Two clutches one after the other is more than enough, and continually breeding them will kill your hen off from exhaustion.

If this is not what has happened, I still think that your hen has had enough. Do not breed with her again; generally a hen who starts killing chicks will often continue this with any other clutches. How old are the pair? It is not so important for the cock, but the hen should be relieved of breeding duties from three years of age.

[teng]

Thank you very much Hezz for the advice. I would follow your instruction and transfer them to the flight cage. By the way, they are both a year old when I paired them.