Deezuhl
Hatching
- Oct 16, 2015
- 4
- 0
- 7
Hi all,
We have had a lot of changes in our coop over the last 5 months. We had one broody hen named PekPek that we introduced 4 day old chicks to, and she adopted them at the end of August. 3 of the chicks ended up being roosters. So she now has one of the originals (Tikka) that is almost 20 weeks old. We introduced 2 new coop ready chicks to replace the roosters that are around 10 - 12 weeks old. They were separated at first, and now they are all assimilated. The pecking order has been established.
PekPek does not like the 2 new chicks. Generally PekPek and Tikka do everything together and the 2 chicks do everything together. PekPek pecks more at the chicks than the Tikka. The chicks are old enough to handle it and hide as needed, but they are definitely scared of her and avoid her as much as possible.
The chicks were on a separate roost at night starting a week ago. This week, they jumped up to share the same roost with PekPek and Tikka. PekPek was making lots of noises and looked uncomfortable, but she stayed for the first night. For the past 2 nights, Tikka has been snuggling with the chicks on the roost and PekPek has confined herself to the nesting box.
Should I block the nesting box? PekPek hasn't laid eggs since she went broody, so we are definitely ready for someone to start! However since they are all mixed ages everyone is still eating the grower feed as it's too difficult to separate their food. Is she super upset about the chicks or getting ready to lay again or is something else happening?
Any help is much appreciated!
Thanks,
Diana
We have had a lot of changes in our coop over the last 5 months. We had one broody hen named PekPek that we introduced 4 day old chicks to, and she adopted them at the end of August. 3 of the chicks ended up being roosters. So she now has one of the originals (Tikka) that is almost 20 weeks old. We introduced 2 new coop ready chicks to replace the roosters that are around 10 - 12 weeks old. They were separated at first, and now they are all assimilated. The pecking order has been established.
PekPek does not like the 2 new chicks. Generally PekPek and Tikka do everything together and the 2 chicks do everything together. PekPek pecks more at the chicks than the Tikka. The chicks are old enough to handle it and hide as needed, but they are definitely scared of her and avoid her as much as possible.
The chicks were on a separate roost at night starting a week ago. This week, they jumped up to share the same roost with PekPek and Tikka. PekPek was making lots of noises and looked uncomfortable, but she stayed for the first night. For the past 2 nights, Tikka has been snuggling with the chicks on the roost and PekPek has confined herself to the nesting box.
Should I block the nesting box? PekPek hasn't laid eggs since she went broody, so we are definitely ready for someone to start! However since they are all mixed ages everyone is still eating the grower feed as it's too difficult to separate their food. Is she super upset about the chicks or getting ready to lay again or is something else happening?
Any help is much appreciated!
Thanks,
Diana
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