Can a mean momma...

[natemoore1986]

I've got a pretty big run that holds my FBCM emotional support rooster, Mattie, a young light Sussex rooster who is pretty chill, and two young light Sussex hens, one of which is already broody and sitting on six eggs. Discovered this at about the same time my 15 FBCM female chicks shipped from Cackle Hatchery. Oh dear!

Once she hatches her chicks, can this angry bird, psycho momma defend her chicks from two chill rooster and a hen?

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

She might. It'll be best for the hen and two roosters, the broody mom, and the chicks however if you seperate her and the chicks. Even just building in a caged off area inside the pen they're already in, just so no chicks can get out and no chickens can get in

 

[NatJ]

Once she hatches her chicks, can this angry bird, psycho momma defend her chicks from two chill rooster and a hen?

She probably can defend her chicks well enough.

But she might try to chase the roosters and hen completely out of the pen!
I've seen hens that wanted all other chickens to stay about 10 feet away, in every direction.

I recommend putting up some sort of divider or separator before the chicks hatch, or moving one set to another pen. If you divide the pen, the divider only needs to be chicken-proof, not predator-proof, so you could possibly use something like cardboard that you might have on hand.

 

[natemoore1986]

She probably can defend her chicks well enough.

But she might try to chase the roosters and hen completely out of the pen!
I've seen hens that wanted all other chickens to stay about 10 feet away, in every direction.

I recommend putting up some sort of divider or separator before the chicks hatch, or moving one set to another pen. If you divide the pen, the divider only needs to be chicken-proof, not predator-proof, so you could possibly use something like cardboard that you might have on hand.

I guess I’ll just see what happens. I feel like I’m losing control of my flocks. My new chicks just arrived (FBCM and speckled Sussex), too. Plus I have my 5 year old flock that miraculously started laying eggs again after taking six months off. I planned to cull the old flock when my new chicks got big enough to live with the roosters, ultimately having a FBCM flock and a mixed Sussex flock, both in separate runs with separate coops, both headed up by a handsome rooster.