Hens fighting over who gets to be the mama?

[clarkestep]

I posted this a few hours ago in the behavior section, without response (yet). I thought I'd post it here since maybe there will be more traffic????

Our situation... Brownie, a 1st time mama, just hatched out babies yesterday/today in the coop nest box. When Charlie, a one-time experienced mama, heard the chicks peep she decided SHE wanted to be the mama and tried to push Brownie off the nest. In the process, she trampled on one of the chicks and killed it and really stunned 2 others (there were 9 under Brownie in all). One of them is STILL lethargic and I wonder if she will make it or not.

Now... I have 9 eggs in an incubator ready to hatch tomorrow and we hear peeps now (no pips yet). I brought Brownie inside with her babies and they are in a box. The original plan was to let Brownie be mama of all of them, but if I end up giving Charlie the incubator chicks will she STILL try to steal Brownie's chicks if I put them all back out in the coop together? OR... will she raise hers and leave Brownie's alone? I just bought a wired cage that I can put under the coop in the run, but I'd hate to reintroduce everyone later on. Especially since I don't have anywhere to put them. I didn't have a problem like this when Charlie hatched out her own eggs the last time.

BTW, she has not been broody at all lately, but now.... she has been sitting on the nest box all day long. Silly hormonal chicken! Has anyone got any advice? Thanks!

 

[chickencrazymamahen]

Honestly I don't have a clue, hopefully somebody with some experience in this will be along shortly!! I hope it works out for the momma's and babies.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Sorry, I have no advice...but, this so reminds me of a story/book I read as a young girl about two hens...seems to me its title was Henny and Penny..but maybe not....I don't remember the title exactly...but the story was very similar to your situation. I hope the hens calm down and the rest of your babies do well.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are living animals and no one can tell you for sure what will happen. It might work out, but this type of thing is not that unusual when you have two broodies together. I think Charlie has given you a very good idea of what will probably happen if she can get to Brownie and her chicks, even if Charlie has her own. I'd suggest not letting both have chicks unless you can keep them separated until the chicks are weaned. And then, as you noted, you have integration problems.

I'd suggest giving all the chicks to one hen and breaking the other from being broody. Ot if you want Charlie to hatch more chicks, isolate her from the flock while she is incubating her eggs. If you wait about a week to give her the eggs, Brownie should have weaned her chicks by the time Charlie is ready to join the flock with hers.

If you decide to break Charlie, this link may help you.

Break a Broody Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2176186#p2176186

 

[Cetawin]

Well you have a dilemma...Charlie wants chicks and that she has made very clear. If you put Brownie and the chicks near Charlie, the same thing will happen again. if you give Charlie chicks that will not stop her from trying to steal Brownie's if she has the chance. You best bet is give all the chicks to Brownie if she will accept the incubator ones and let her raise them. She could keep them anywhere from a couple of weeks to 6 - 8 weeks but she and chicks need to be away from the flock. If you give Charlie the bator chicks, you must still keep the two mamas and their chicks separated.

Good luck with this one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with everything Cetawin said except

she and chicks need to be away from the flock

If Charlie stays broody and you give any chicks to Brownie, then Charlie and Brownie need to be separated. But if you break one of the hens from being broody and give all the chicks to the other, then they do not need to be separated. I do not believe hens and chicks have to be separated from the rest of the flock. Hens have successfully been raising chicks with the flock for thousands of years. I think the benefits of Mama taking care of integration issues far outways the risks. There are obvious risks and Mama does have to have room to work. If you have a history of problems, then you should separate. But if you break Charlie from being broody, then conditions have changed. I'd suspect that Charlie going broody at exactly the wrong instant is a pretty rare occurence. This thread might prove interesting.

Raise with flock? thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=215937&p=1

 

[clarkestep]

AWWWWwwww crud! I was hoping not to have to hear that! I guess what I will try doing is giving the incubator babies to Charlie and then put them all back out in the coop. If she tries to take Brownie's babies, I will have to just give Brownie all the babies and then just get rid of Charlie. I may have a friend who might take her (especially if she is broody and will just set on eggs so she can build her own flock) At least this way, I give them a chance to co-mother before doing anything else. The time I let Charlie hatch her babies out, I didn't have this problem, as none of the others knew what being a mommy was like. oh joy! Thank you for the insight.

 

[evonne]

i was reading somewhere where someone had 2 momma's in the same pen with their own clutch of chicks within a day or two in age....
she said that one day when counting chicks the numbers had changed becasue one chick got confused and started following the other momma...
so you may be able to give the bator chicks to charlie and put brownie and her chicks back in the pen too and have no problems... only way to know is to try and do it when you have time to sit around and supervise....

good luck.... and take pics...

 

[Lady_Cluck]

Right now I have two hens co-parenting 9 chicks. One of the mothers (the older one) tends to hog the babies when she gets the chance, but both hens get along just fine as they are mostly concerned about mothering the chicks. The chicks and moms are in their own pen, that way they rest on the floor and there is no nest for them to fight over. The babies will run to whoever is closest/warmest/has a worm and don't seem at all bothered by the extra love.

 

[LyonFuzz]

I have the same thing going on right now too. Both of these sikies are co-parenting two chicks. They don't seem to fight over them and the chicks just go to both hens for care. It takes a village to raise kids, so it must take a flock to raise chicks!