Best way to seperate hen and chicks

[shelleyd2008]

I have a hen that has 12 chicks. She had 13, after I sold some, and one has dissappeared. Another hen had 13, which she has left already. There are now only 9 of these left. I am wanting to take the chicks away from the hen, because all the others go in her nest at night as well, and it is impossible to tell which are which.

Would it be better to take the hen out of the nest, and lock up the chicks, or move the chicks to a different pen? I hate to seperate them at all, but I would really hate to lose anymore chicks to hawks, they are really bad right now. I have lost, counting these, 10 chickens in the past 5 days. And I know it is hawks. I found one of my OEGB cockerels in the horse pasture with talon marks in its back.

 

[LaDeja]

Hi! Can't really advise you on which way to deal with the chicks and hens, but this is what I've been doing out of necessity: My Phoenix has 12 babies. Now, at 2 weeks old, she wants to go back to roosting in tree at night. So, since its cold at night, I gather the babies up as soon as she goes on roost. For me, its easier to keep them inside and warm all night, then 1st thing in morning they go back to her. If it weren't cold on em, I'd leave them in the pen. So maybe you can separate them okay if they can stay warm. Good Luck!

 

[shelleyd2008]

The problem isn't at night, it's during the day. I have lost 10 chickens to hawks in less than a week due to hawks. I had a pair of BTW jap chicks, and am now down to one pullet, that I am giving to a friend that has a cockerel and pullet, in exchange for future eggs. This hen lets all the chicks sleep with her, but she doesn't watch them all during the day. The 13 from the other hen would go off on their own, and I am now down to 9 of them. I wanted to downsize, but not like this!!

 

[Mahonri]

I would try and catch them at night and lock them up in a coop or somewhere secure.

 

[Teresaann24]

At 5 weeks I seperate my chicks from my hens. I just put them in the house in a huge dog crate and keep them warm. Couple of days hen is over it and chicks are over it. I know this is a hard way to just ripp them away from momma and also can be stressful on hen and babies both. I find if the chicks are handled and loved enough I find its alot easier to do it this way.

 

[magikchick]

I have a dog pen that I fixed up. I put chicken wire around the bottom so the little ones can't get out. I got bird netting from Lowes and put over the top so the hawks can't get in. At night I have a large dog crate in the coop for them to sleep in.

It only takes a couple of days for the hen and chicks to get over not being togeather.