Broody hen and new flock addition problem

[Mrs.Cooper2018]

Hey! I'm new here. I was looking for answers to a problem I'm having and happened to stumbled across this website. This may be long but I will try to keep it short.

We have two chicken coops that are secure with buried fence and a tin roof. One pen has a rooster and 6 hens and the other has a rooster and 2 hens. This pen has laying boxes closer to the ground with a flip up door and easier to keep babies.

We had one hen have 11 babies. For some reason she got out with 2 and left the others in the box and wouldn't go back. So we took them and put them in a brooder box. They outgrew the brooder and are pretty decent size so we put them back in the pen where the mother hen is with the other 2 babies.

Here's my problem. She terrorizes them and the other hen that she grew up with! She chases the babies everywhere and attacks them if she csn get them cornered.

Should I put her in with the other hens in the other coop? Beat her tail (just kidding sort of lol), or wait it out? Its been over a week and she still terrorizes them if given the opportunity.

Thank you!

 

[redranger209]

She will kill them if she has the opportunity. Put her with the other coop.

 

[Mrs.Cooper2018]

Okay I will do that. We have had the grown chickens for 2 years (they came with the house) but have never added new ones to the flock. So we are new to this and aren't sure what is normal and not. Thank you for your reply!

 

[ronott1]

She will kill them if she has the opportunity. Put her with the other coop.

x2

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC...sorry you are having troubles.
Sounds like a chicken rodeo for sure!

Hmmmm....how big are these coops, in feet by feet?
Some pics would help.
Are they all free ranging or are there separate runs connected to the 2 coops
How old are the chicks you are trying to integrate?
Is the rooster and 1 hen ok with the 9 chicks being in their coop?

Not sure the rooster and 6 hens will accept the mean broody(and the 2 chicks?),
that's yet another integration.

 

[lomine]

I would try putting up some kind of fence or wire in the second coop to separate the broody and her chicks. If the rooster and other hen get along fine with the other chicks it would be easier to just separate the problem broody. Or make a bunch of little areas were the chicks can go to get away from her and she can't follow. It could be as simple as a box with holes only big enough for the chicks to fit through. When I have very young chicks brooding in the coop I use a kind of wire fence with spaces big enough for the chicks to slip through but it keeps the big birds out.

I think it would be harder to integrate her into a totally new flock. You can't just place her in the other coop. You'll have to put her in a separate area in there too and come up with an integration plan.

 

[Mrs.Cooper2018]

Thank y'all so much for the replies! Sorry for the late response, I'm just getting time to sit down and read everything.
The other flock of chickens where originally in the same pen with her until a week or two ago when we moved them to the other coop to make room for the babies. The pen where everyone was originally is more secure from predators so we thought best to move them to the other and put babies in the secure one. That way since some haven't figured out how to roost yet they can be shut in the nesting boxes over night.
I decided to move her to the other coop today when I got home. I left the two chicks of hers with the others since they are all close in size and they are doing just fine and huddled up in the nesting box tonight with the other babies to sleep and she got right up with the other hens and roosted as well with no fuss about the babies.

I was concerned about putting the babies in there with her because I tried putting babies in there not to long ago and something ate all of them in one night. Left no feathers or bodies and no way in or out. The only ones that have ever gotten ate in there were the ones who hasn't learned to roost. So I was worried they would get ate if put in there.