Baby chicks “weened” off mom! Heat needed? Sleeping situation?

Chicken poppy

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May 9, 2021
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So i had a broody hen that was sitting on some eggs, they hatched, she had chicks. all was well until yesterday. Yesterday she started getting a bit aggressive, biting them. But i noticed she really just bit them when they tried stealing her food when she was scratching for it. I figured that was normal because at some point she has to let them know to get their own food.

But today was bad! When they would walk in separate directions even, she would turn around, run after them, bite them then walk away. But it only got worse. She chased them so much around the yard and biting them they were hiding under the stairs terrified. Well, she laid an egg today, and i guess that snapped her out of it. (All the biting was after the egg.) She had enough of the whole mothering act and completely abandoned them. They cried their hearts out, and it broke me. They sat by the gate watching her walk off so far (quite a few yards.) and she didn’t even turn back. She just got back into the flock and wanted nothing to do with them. They just sat by the gate for hours, not making a peep, and when they saw her, they cried and cried and she just ignored them. She also turned godzilla and all shes been doing is eating, i guess all that mothering got her quite an appetite. Its like she never even raised them and im so confused, how is this weening? She just beats them up, most of it not even for a reason, then abandons them, all at the same time? Anyway. If i calculated it correctly, they should be 6 weeks old and 4 days. Do they need heat? I’ll upload pictures soon after its posted if necessary to help further identify the age if im wrong. Isbe would sleep in a a large brooder thing inside the coop with the others. She could hear them and see them but was separated. Then, theres a roost, where Isbe, Emily, and Rizo sleep. Then theres another coop where Dixie & Trixie are (same breed, but about 6 months old.) The overall goal was to make a big flock of Dixie Trixie and all the babies (5) and combine them.



So aswell as the heat question.. where do they sleep?? Do i put them in the brooder with no heat (or heat?) should i take them inside so they don’t hear their mom sense it broke their hearts? Put them with Dixie and Trixie? (As in moving the brooder in there.) Im so confused what i should do.



TL;DR: Need to know if 6 week old ( & 4 days) chickens need artificial heating sense their mom abandoned them. I also need to know where to put them. In a brooder like area or what.



Sorry it was so long, just felt like some backstory of it all was necessary. Isbe is a completely different breed, by the way. And is way larger then them even full grown.
 
Most hens leave their chicks between 5-8 weeks. Can be more or less depending on the individual. This year I had one broody leave her chicks at 4 1/2 weeks old, and another who is still babying her chick (who is now 12 weeks old).

I'd consider her behavior towards them normal. Maybe a bit more aggressive then the norm, but still natural. Give the chicks a day or two they'll be perfectly fine.

If the weather is with 60F they won't need a heat lamp. They do not need to be in an brooder either. I'm not what your setups look like or where they were staying before, but they can be outside and should be able to start incorporating with the other birds.
 
They are well past point of needing heat. It's normal for the mom to wean them off when she is ready.

I'm a little confused to the sleeping arrangements but did you not have mom integrate them in with the rest of the flock while she had them? Or are they integrated in, just not sleeping with the others yet?

If she already integrated them with the flock and they have no issue being together during the day, they should be sleeping with the flock at night as well. If she did NOT integrate them in (i.e. you had them in a separate area) you will now need to integrate them in just as if they were new additions.
 
They are well past point of needing heat. It's normal for the mom to wean them off when she is ready.

I'm a little confused to the sleeping arrangements but did you not have mom integrate them in with the rest of the flock while she had them? Or are they integrated in, just not sleeping with the others yet?

If she already integrated them with the flock and they have no issue being together during the day, they should be sleeping with the flock at night as well. If she did NOT integrate them in (i.e. you had them in a separate area) you will now need to integrate them in just as if they were new additions.
Thank you.

As am i. Im a little chicken when it comes to chickens, and i tend to be to overprotective of them. I don’t even like to see the roosters mate because it just breaks my heart seeing the hens screams, even if people say it doesn’t really hurt them at all.

Anyway, yes, i let her walk around with the babies around Rizo and Emily, and she would sleep up underneath the rod (because theres a little bit of hay right underneath the rod, about 3 feet or so underneath) and she would sleep with them til about 12:00. Starting around 6. Then i would take her and move them into a nesting area. I just expected i had more time and now i guess i have to mix them all myself.
 
Most hens leave their chicks between 5-8 weeks. Can be more or less depending on the individual. This year I had one broody leave her chicks at 4 1/2 weeks old, and another who is still babying her chick (who is now 12 weeks old).

I'd consider her behavior towards them normal. Maybe a bit more aggressive then the norm, but still natural. Give the chicks a day or two they'll be perfectly fine.

If the weather is with 60F they won't need a heat lamp. They do not need to be in an brooder either. I'm not what your setups look like or where they were staying before, but they can be outside and should be able to start incorporating with the other birds.
Thank you. I think its supposed to be around the 50s tonight but i’ll see. If it is, do i need to add in heat of some sort?

Its all so chaotic. Trixie seems kind of okay with them but Dixie is not and chases them. Their always together so its just going to be so hard.
 
Thank you. I think its supposed to be around the 50s tonight but i’ll see. If it is, do i need to add in heat of some sort?

Its all so chaotic. Trixie seems kind of okay with them but Dixie is not and chases them. Their always together so its just going to be so hard.

They'll be fine. I've had fully-feathered 4-week-olds in the coop with temperatures in the 40's.

Just as long as they are dry and out of the wind they'll snuggle up and be cozy.

Trust the mama bird. Chickens know how to be chickens better than we know how to be chickens. :)
 
Hens are funny, I have given 4 week old chicks to hens before and the hens and chicks were delighted to be together, I have seen hens abandon 2 week old chicks, and other old hens who never had babies took over the raising. I have had hens raise ducks, and be good to them, and a mother hen who only raised a duck to age 2 weeks and then do the beat up thing.
 

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