Chicks won't leave mom

[Johnchickens2]

Hi I have a hen that has been raising her chicks for more than a month. Last week, she started laying eggs again. She isn't making noises to the chicks anymore, and when she finds food - she takes it to herself. But, she doesn't peck or chase the chicks away fom her. They keep following her everywhere - and I think she is a bit annoyed with that. But yesterday, one of the other hens' chicks came close (I have another mama hen with chicks in the yard) and she attacked it! Even though he looked very similar to her own chicks (same father). So, I guess she still "wants" her chicks around her?? It's important to state that she is a first time mother....

 

[sourland]

Weaning age varies from hen to hen. Some associate with their 'chicks' throughout their lifetime.

 

[PoppasGrill]

I said it on another post , but we had some chicks, our minis, that were raised with our turkey chicks.
The minis still follow the turkeys around and roost with them. If a mini wanders too far away one of the turkeys will go lead them back to the main yard.
The momma that was brooding at the time and took them under her wing, still hangs with them , but doesn’t share her food anymore. They are 8-9 months now, and the turkeys are huge.

 

[16 and me]

I have a Mama hen - a speckled sussex, she's the nurturing Mama. She still hangs with her 4 chicks and they're 12 weeks old. Sometimes one or two will wander off and do their own thing, but they tend to follow her most of the day & roost beside her at night. My other Mama hen - a Buff orpington - she's all business - raise em up quick get em outta the nest, teach em to hunt and peck and scratch & fend for themselves so I can get back to my position in the flock.
Not sure if it's a breed thing or an individual hen thing, but they are different.

 

[K0k0shka]

Different individuals have their different parenting styles and levels of attachment. I have one super mom (Barnevelder) who goes broody a lot and feels very maternal and nurturing towards everything - chicks she hatched, chicks I bought and grafted on her, other hens' chicks. She never really weans them, she just stops actively offering them food and talking baby talk to them, but she continues being friendly with them (and even protective of them!) for life. It's adorable when the generations start to overlap... Mama with several years' worth of offspring of different ages and sizes dust-bathing in a big pile together My other broody (Orpington) ends her maternity leave when the chicks are fully feathered - boots them and starts harassing them the same as the rest of the flock harasses them.

 

[16 and me]

Different individuals have their different parenting styles and levels of attachment. I have one super mom (Barnevelder) who goes broody a lot and feels very maternal and nurturing towards everything - chicks she hatched, chicks I bought and grafted on her, other hens' chicks. She never really weans them, she just stops actively offering them food and talking baby talk to them, but she continues being friendly with them (and even protective of them!) for life. It's adorable when the generations start to overlap... Mama with several years' worth of offspring of different ages and sizes dust-bathing in a big pile together My other broody (Orpington) ends her maternity leave when the chicks are fully feathered - boots them and starts harassing them the same as the rest of the flock harasses them.

Your Orpington os just like mine lol. And my Speckled Sussex is like your Barnevelder, the nurturing super-mama.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yeah, it definitely varies hen to hen, just like it varies in human mothers. They definitely know each other individually even when we can't hardly tell a difference, so no surprise she knew the others were not her babies!


I let five of my hens hatch this year and saw varying levels of mothering ability in them. All first-time mamas, but various ages, themselves. Some were straight terrible at it, and others were amazing. One mama kept going to roost at night without her baby and acting very confused as to why the tiny, week-old chick wasn't flying up 2 feet to perch next to her. Another mama never quit on her babies but I ended up having to separate them from her at about 12 weeks of age anyway because they were all cockerels and started to mate her! And one mama quit on her babies at about 6 weeks of age, only for another hen, who wasn't even broody at the time, to adopt them and continue to mother them. They are 4 months old now and still following their second mama around while she clucks and shows them goodies.

 

[chanceosunshine]

I said it on another post , but we had some chicks, our minis, that were raised with our turkey chicks.
The minis still follow the turkeys around and roost with them. If a mini wanders too far away one of the turkeys will go lead them back to the main yard.
The momma that was brooding at the time and took them under her wing, still hangs with them , but doesn’t share her food anymore. They are 8-9 months now, and the turkeys are huge.

That just sounds adorable!

 

[K0k0shka]

Last year I had two broodies that hatched a bunch of identical chicks from the same batch of eggs. At first they were in separate nests and each hen had her own chicks, but they eventually teamed up and started raising the chicks together and sleeping together. And yet, each hen continued to show a preference for the chicks that were originally "hers", even though they were absolutely copy-paste identical! So yeah, they can absolutely tell.

 

[tarrantredford]

Hi I have a hen that has been raising her chicks for more than a month. Last week, she started laying eggs again. She isn't making noises to the chicks anymore, and when she finds food - she takes it to herself. But, she doesn't peck or chase the chicks away fom her. They keep following her everywhere - and I think she is a bit annoyed with that. But yesterday, one of the other hens' chicks came close (I have another mama hen with chicks in the yard) and she attacked it! Even though he looked very similar to her own chicks (same father). So, I guess she still "wants" her chicks around her?? It's important to state that she is a first time mother....

whats up john, its me tarrant here! i just wanted to say that to fix this problem you need to pet the bird and then hold it. hope this helps!!!