ChickyPoo12
Hatching
- Jan 26, 2016
- 1
- 0
- 7
Hi all! I need some advice. We currently have 6 hens and one rooster. 5 hens and the rooster are all silkies and one hen is a bantam hen that was given to us when she was a chick. All of the hens have always gotten along fine and the rooster is pretty good at keeping everyone in check and protecting the yard. All are also very friendly with us, coming to lay in our laps or getting excited to see us when we go out into the yard. Recently our brood hen laid two eggs (one hatched and the other one fell from the nest during a windstorm and didnt survive). Oh, and our brood hen is a silky. Any way, the one egg hatched about 3 days ago and our broody is proving to be a great mom (it's her first chick). She was only bringing the baby down from the coop for 10 minutes max to eat and drink then she'd take the chick back up to the coop for the remainder of the day / night. Well, this morning, she brought the chick out and took it out into the yard with her. All of our silkies stayed clear of her and did not bother her or the chick at all. However, our bantam hen ran over and pecked the chick and flung it across the yard. The momma quickly defended the chick and made sure it was ok, but the bantam kept challenging momma and trying to get at the chick until I went out and separated the two. Our bantam is usually the more assertive one of all the hens but our broody hen always seemed to be the top hen (no one messes with her). So I dont understand why our bantam is doing this and now I am afraid to keep the hens together. I have the chick and momma separated right now but would like them to all be together since our rooster and broody hen are very affectionate together and he seems to enjoy the chick (he feeds it and usually greets it when it comes out of the coop). Help!