My chicks hatched on Thursday morning. I am all new to this and not sure what is normal and what I need to get excited about. My momma hen is taking very good care of her chicks. It is amazing to me that everyone (but me) knows just what to do. There is Rhode Island hen that goes out of her way every few hours to go grab a beak full of feathers off the back of the momma hen. Unless you guys say this is normal, I intend to separate them. The question is who should I incarcerate. It would be much easier as soon as it gets dark to put the RI hen in a crate I made for this purpose. But I wonder if some other hen will just step up and continue the abuse. In which case I would need to create a whole new setup for the momma and her babies. This would be doable if it is necessary. The mean hen is a midlevel hen in the pecking order. The momma hen is near the top of the pecking order. No other chickens seem to be bothering her, and no chicken has given the babies any trouble at all. Please give me a direction to go. Thanks!
