Broody mom abandoned chicks at 7 weeks and is now mean to them

[aart]

You may need to add another roost bar. Make sure it's far enough away that she can't peck the chicks while she is on her roost, and make sure it is not higher than her roost.

Yes, This^^^

A separate roost will help immensely.

 

[HennyPenny44]

The older.girls will tell them where they can sleep. Once the chicks learn their place, the pecking will stop. You may need to add another roost bar. Make sure it's far enough away that she can't peck the chicks while she is on her roost, and make sure it is not higher than her roost.

Thanks again. I installed a 3rd roost bar because I was afraid of bedtime drama. Mama is on the top most roost which used to be shared by 5 of my original hens, 2 of which are now gone. The babies take whichever roost they can get but usually sleep on the right most roost, away from their mom, unless my Easter Egger kicks them off. I noticed this morning, all my chickens were more calm and mom let the chicks eat first as she walked around. She laid her first egg in a while yesterday.

 

[MissE]

Thanks again. I installed a 3rd roost bar because I was afraid of bedtime drama. Mama is on the top most roost which used to be shared by 5 of my original hens, 2 of which are now gone. The babies take whichever roost they can get but usually sleep on the right most roost, away from their mom, unless my Easter Egger kicks them off. I noticed this morning, all my chickens were more calm and mom let the chicks eat first as she walked around. She laid her first egg in a while yesterday.
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Excellent! They will work it out. Chickens are not emotional animals like humans are. What some of us see as mean, they see as normal flock behavior.

 

[JessieKell]

This is my first time adding chicks to an existing flock and first time with a broody hen. I only started raising chickens 2 years ago.

Well, my Black Australorp was an excellent broody and mom for 7 weeks to 8 lovely little chicks, protecting her babies from the older hens and sometimes even me until this weekend when she abandoned them. Overnight, she changed. She originally integrated the chicks to my existing flock of 3 about 4 weeks ago so they are all in the main coop and run. She taught them to roost right next to her at night, and even let them roost underneath her.

As of this weekend, she has no patience for her babies or being confined so I let her out to range in my yard most of the day along with the other adult hens. But when she’s in the run, she chases them away which I expected but at bedtime, she’s especially mean. She was always top hen so she’s clinging to her status fiercely. She basically gets half of the coop and the other 10 chicks/chickens have to sleep in the other half. My older Buff Orpington who’s at the bottom of the pecking order sleeps in the nesting box and wants no part of the drama. She’s so sweet to the babies and hangs out with them during the day rather than the older hens. She also has stopped laying eggs I think due to the stress. Some of my chicks sleep on the roost and the rest sleep on the floor because mom will not let them on the bar she’s on and even the one in front of her. She gets the whole bar to herself unless she lets the Easter Egger on after much pecking. My Easter Egger will not let the chicks on the roost she’s on without pecking at them incessantly as well. Some of the chicks just give up at some point because they’re kicked off all 3 roosts. Sometimes they snuggle under mom’s wing on the roost in hopes that she’ll snuggle them back only to have her peck at them hard to get away. It breaks my heart.

Is this normal behavior for a mom who just weaned her chicks? Should I bother separating or let them sort it out? How much longer can I expect this to go on? They’re about half the size of the other hens and 1/3 the size of mom...she’s a big girl. I heard integrating early would be more successful rather than later. They have been a handful but I’m surprised by her sudden lack of care.

Hi there! Sorry, I don’t have any help as I’m going through almost the same thing but I had two hens brood on the same clutch (I tried to separate them, but they weren’t having it.) Together they hatched 9 chicks. They worked so well together up until about the same point. One continues to mother them extremely well even giving her nesting space at night when too many climb up, but the other mama seeks to go after them constantly. The rooster and other chickens who once left them completely alone, and it seems, although I could be wrong, the others have followed the mama mean mama’s suit. I would love to hear if things have changed.

 

[HennyPenny44]

Hi there! Sorry, I don’t have any help as I’m going through almost the same thing but I had two hens brood on the same clutch (I tried to separate them, but they weren’t having it.) Together they hatched 9 chicks. They worked so well together up until about the same point. One continues to mother them extremely well even giving her nesting space at night when too many climb up, but the other mama seeks to go after them constantly. The rooster and other chickens who once left them completely alone, and it seems, although I could be wrong, the others have followed the mama mean mama’s suit. I would love to hear if things have changed.

Not sure of their size or age but could you put the babies with the mom who’s still mothering them in a separate enclosure if the drama is becoming too much?

As for my broody, big mama as I call her, well, she had gone broody again so she was getting mean to everyone. I broke her and now she’s back to her old sweet self again. Regardless, there was too much drama in the coop at bedtime because not only were the adult hens asserting their dominance over the chicks (who are 13 weeks old now) but now the chicks are doing the pecking order thing too. There were chicks sleeping in the nesting boxes including my 2yo Buff Orpington which is a habit I didn’t want them to acquire. I think the different heights of the roosts also caused more bickering. So this weekend, I moved them all out to my 5x10 chicken tractor with one 10’ long long roost bar. Much less bickering now and everybody gets space on the roost. The coop will be under renovation to make roosts of all the same height though I just may just keep them in the tractor which will need to be winterized at some point.

 

[JessieKell]

Not sure of their size or age but could you put the babies with the mom who’s still mothering them in a separate enclosure if the drama is becoming too much?

As for my broody, big mama as I call her, well, she had gone broody again so she was getting mean to everyone. I broke her and now she’s back to her old sweet self again. Regardless, there was too much drama in the coop at bedtime because not only were the adult hens asserting their dominance over the chicks (who are 13 weeks old now) but now the chicks are doing the pecking order thing too. There were chicks sleeping in the nesting boxes including my 2yo Buff Orpington which is a habit I didn’t want them to acquire. I think the different heights of the roosts also caused more bickering. So this weekend, I moved them all out to my 5x10 chicken tractor with one 10’ long long roost bar. Much less bickering now and everybody gets space on the roost. The coop will be under renovation to make roosts of all the same height though I just may just keep them in the tractor which will need to be winterized at some point.

Thank you so much for your response! I’m glad she’s back to herself. My husband and are actually talking about rearranging their bars. Everyone was the top bar and the same side. I can’t change the sides obviously but I’m thinking we are going to do the same thing with the bar. Our nesting boxes have the bars on them so it makes it a little harder. Maybe I’ll switch out those boxes and just have a single bar to combat the fighting over the highest. Thank you so much!

 

[HennyPenny44]

Thank you so much for your response! I’m glad she’s back to herself. My husband and are actually talking about rearranging their bars. Everyone was the top bar and the same side. I can’t change the sides obviously but I’m thinking we are going to do the same thing with the bar. Our nesting boxes have the bars on them so it makes it a little harder. Maybe I’ll switch out those boxes and just have a single bar to combat the fighting over the highest. Thank you so much!

Sure. I had no idea that would work until I read it somewhere. Here’s their current situation including the fake eggs to teach my stubborn older hens to lay there.

 

[centrarchid]

The chicks can benefit from extended maternal care which I often see extended to 10 to 12 weeks in the fall. What is going on is the hen is balancing the investment in the first brood against what she can get by producing a subsequent brood. Most hens can not rear two broods at same time, as older brood will conflict directly with the younger brood. The hen is likely to gain more by raising another brood than she will lose in reduced survival of the older brood. The hen wants to raise as a many chicks to breeding age as she can.

 

[saysfaa]

Moving them all to a new location that has lots of roost space would work well... both the extra roost space itself and taking some of the territorial part of things away. Moving just the chicks and still mothering hen, though, would mean integrating them back into the flock as strangers later. Better to avoid that.

 

[JessieKell]

Sure. I had no idea that would work until I read it somewhere. Here’s their current situation including the fake eggs to teach my stubborn older hens to lay there.

Oh that’s great!! We were talking about what kind of brackets to hold the bars. That’s awesome!