6 week old chicks refuse to roost and insist on sleeping underneath mom

[Katakornchicks]

Hey there. So I have six, 6-week-old chicks that were hatched by one of my own hens. She's been an excellent first time mother; in fact perhaps a bit too excellent. The babies refuse to roost at night, despite having roosting options that they happily use during the day. Mom, a small bantam mix chicken, is still trying her best to sit on these ENORMOUS teenagers every night, but I know it's not comfortable for her. It's like 90° outside where I live and she's just panting away. Even the chicks are panting. I've tried to encourage them to roost by setting them on the roost at night, but they just jump back off and run to mom. I've even done it in the dark in hopes that if they can't see, they will stay put. But no, they still find a way. 2 of the chicks are going to new homes in like 2 days and I think they need to uh... Mature a bit... So should I do anything about this??

 

[sourland]

Nope. She'll wean when she is good and ready to.

 

[Katakornchicks]

Nope. She'll wean when she is good and ready to.

Is it ok to let the 2 chicks go to their new homes un-weaned? I mean I know they arent going to die but is it going to upset everyone too much? She will still have 4 to sit on

 

[trudyg]

Look at it this way--sending 2 off may break the cycle for the others, forcing them to leave mom. I, personally, don't see any need to remove them or have them on a roost until they are ready, but the 2 going away? They're animals and simply live with whatever circumstances they find themselves in.

 

[Katakornchicks]

Look at it this way--sending 2 off may break the cycle for the others, forcing them to leave mom. I, personally, don't see any need to remove them or have them on a roost until they are ready, but the 2 going away? They're animals and simply live with whatever circumstances they find themselves in.

That's a good way of thinking of it

 

[LTAY1946]

Try putting mom on the roost and then the chicks beside her. May or may not work. If it works they would all be more comfortable and still they are not actually weaned. 6 weeks is getting old for not roosting. During the day to they venture off away from her any at all?

 

[Sussex19]

I have a slightly different opinion on this.
Yes, you can leave mum to ween them when she wants, and none of them will be any the worse for it.
But...I also think you can separate them if you need to, and let mum get back to laying sooner. As long as they have been with her for 6 weeks, that is all they really need, and after a day of wondering what is happening, they should all be fine.
There is certainly to problem with rehoming a couple of them.

 

[Katakornchicks]

Try putting mom on the roost and then the chicks beside her. May or may not work. If it works they would all be more comfortable and still they are not actually weaned. 6 weeks is getting old for not roosting. During the day to they venture off away from her any at all?

We are going to try that tonight. At night I had been keeping them in a separate coop completely with a mini roost rack and a nest, but they would just jump off the roost and back in the near no matter what I tried, mother included. Tonight I decided to let them roost in the coop along with their mother with all the adult chickens on the big roost racks . We will see how it goes... They have met the other adults during the day without violence so I hope it will be fine. And as far as them venturing away from mom during the day, they don't do much of that. As soon as they get a few feet away and can't see her anymore, they start crying and she comes running.

 

[Katakornchicks]

I have a slightly different opinion on this.
Yes, you can leave mum to ween them when she wants, and none of them will be any the worse for it.
But...I also think you can separate them if you need to, and let mum get back to laying sooner. As long as they have been with her for 6 weeks, that is all they really need, and after a day of wondering what is happening, they should all be fine.
There is certainly to problem with rehoming a couple of them.

That makes me feel better about the 2 that are moving to another state tomorrow. But I don't mind keeping the others with mom as long as she wants to stick around, I don't really have her for egg production so she can do what she pleases. As long as it doesn't mess with the development of the chicks.

 

[Sussex19]

As long as it doesn't mess with the development of the chicks.

It won't
They are still getting all the live experiences, and even if they never become fully independent (which is very unlikely, but still..) it won't harm them in anyway.