Chick runs away from mother?

Talka

Chirping
May 5, 2019
19
15
61
One of the neighbourhood's hens is raising her chicks in my back yard. They are now 5 weeks old and there are only 2 left (out of 10. The picture was taken 10 days ago when there were still 3).
One of the remaining chicks had something weird going on with his wing feathers, they were crumpled and he could not jump up very well, but he grew some new ones and I thought he was improving.
Today he started running away from his mother for some reason. He calls in distress and she comes to his aid, but when he sees her he fleas frantically and hides from her. She doesn't understand what's wrong, and neither do I! It's been going on since this morning.
Any idea what the problem might be?
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I've never raised chicks but just a guess.
The chick might be in some sort of pain from the wing so cries out, the mother comes to investigate but maybe she bullies it so it runs away when it sees her.
 
I've never raised chicks but just a guess.
The chick might be in some sort of pain from the wing so cries out, the mother comes to investigate but maybe she bullies it so it runs away when it sees her.

Pain is an option, though he looks fine... The new feathers seem to be normal and there doesn't seem to be a problem with the wing itself.
 
Update: the chick was edgy and frightened all day, but it seemed that he calmed down a little and he finally went to sleep with his family. He was also suddenly afraid of me today, so I'm guessing something happened last night or early this morning that scared him in general, perhaps someone tried to catch him :hmm
 
ok, I think I understand what happened, and Chickens Really was close.
The mother did not start to wean them - she abandoned them. Today she stopped answering their calls completely, and in the evening she left altogether. The two remaining chicks are inseparable. I believe she tried to get rid of only one at first, the "defected" one, because he was the only one who was afraid of her yesterday, but now she just saw that it's either all or nothing and left them. They are only 5 weeks old and they don't have all their feathers. One can't fly. They are sleeping outside on the ground and I fear for their lives. Do they stand a chance without their mother's protection at this stage? What do you think I should do?
 
ok, I think I understand what happened, and Chickens Really was close.
The mother did not start to wean them - she abandoned them. Today she stopped answering their calls completely, and in the evening she left altogether. The two remaining chicks are inseparable. I believe she tried to get rid of only one at first, the "defected" one, because he was the only one who was afraid of her yesterday, but now she just saw that it's either all or nothing and left them. They are only 5 weeks old and they don't have all their feathers. One can't fly. They are sleeping outside on the ground and I fear for their lives. Do they stand a chance without their mother's protection at this stage? What do you think I should do?
Sleeping on the ground out side they don’t have a chance. Eventually something will find them. If you have somewhere to put them I would try to catch them. Maybe even look at the little one with the wing issue to see what’s going on.
 

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