chicken went missing for a day, came back and attacked her babies.

[kronikjoe]

they're free roaming. anyway the hen finally came home after missing for a whole day and when one chick went up to greet her, they both paused, heads side by side, then all of a sudden she goes into a rage and pecks and pulls at the back of the chick. pulled off some feathers. she then runs to the rest of her babies and chases them. she catches one and nabs it at the neck then twists. cant believe it is still alive after that. she then went on to get more but i quickly tackled it to the ground (without hurting it of course) then put her in a cage. it was a strange day. i dont know why it happened so that's why im here. asking the chicken experts

 

[enola]

If the chicks are 6 weeks to 2 months old, she is weaning them. Most mother hens will leave their chicks after they become fully feathered.

Sometimes if they are confined to a small area, she will kill them before they realize that she wants them to stay away from her. When I allow a hen to hatch her own eggs, I separate the hen from the chicks when they are about 4 weeks old, even if I have to provide heat for them. It is my way of protecting the chicks from Momma.

 

[kronikjoe]

they are about three months old now and yeah they're fully feathered. so.. should i just keep her in the cage? it's not very big. actually i could fit probably three more hens in there. very small compared to free roaming.

 

[enola]

Since the chicks are 3 months old they will figure out she doesn't want them to follow her anymore. Since they are free ranging I doubt if she will do enough damage to kill any of them. Chicks only get killed when they cannot get away from their Moma because of the cage.

 

[kronikjoe]

right now i decided to keep the chicks in my backyard which is the size of a small house. they have plenty of space to run around. my house is also raised above the ground so underneath you can find plenty of dirt and open space to scratch. there is no way of getting out except through flying over the gate. by that time they'll be strong enough to survive right?

their mommy was set free on the other side of the gate. there she can roam around the whole neighborhood. hopefully no one will take her... that is my only worry.