Grafting chicks to new Broody Mama

[jBabychickn]

Hello there!

Whatcha y’all think? —
First time mama, 1 & 1/2 year old Black Silkie sat on wood eggs for 22days; she did great.
I placed 3 just-hatched babies under her at nighttime on day 22. (2 black Silkies/1 partridge) She did great.
Next AM. Never saw a happier expression on a chickens face before; A happy mama. She stayed on her nest with warming babies all day.
That evening I moved them all from the nesting box, which was in our community nesting area, to her prepared ‘postpartum suite’; She did great.
Next day was a lazy day of still a lot of sleeping under Mom, but with some eating/drinking. Only a little, just like practicing. They all did great!
Now, Day 3. Babies are learning and mastering eating and drinking, however by the afternoon I noticed Mom was pushing the partridge chick away from the food bowl but she would encourage the two black Silkies just fine.

I have a webcam on her; my continued monitoring showed that she kept this up, but this chick is feisty and would go behind her back to grab some bites or sneak under her siblings to sneak food or came out when mom was napping.

Is this a true rejection?
I’m afraid that it is, as of course, she can’t continue to “steal” just to get nourishment! And, if so, I’d hate to brood just a single chick alone.

Advise please ASAP

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sounds like she's not too keen on the Partridge chick, monitor very closely. If she's nudging it away and it keeps coming back, she may decide to become more aggressive and hurt the little one.

If you determine she's rejecting it (sounds like she probably will!) and have to pull the chick to a brooder, think about finding another couple of chicks about the same age if possible. Maybe a feed store has some or a friend/neighbor?

Sometimes things just don't work out as planned. I ordered chicks last fall to go under a well seasoned broody that has gladly taken chicks in the past. NOPE. She was having NONE of it for some reason. I ended up brooding them myself which was fine. Who knows what goes through a broody's mind, they can be fickle.

 

[Paz]

She sounds racist

 

[jBabychickn]

She sounds racist

I know!! That’s exactly what I was thinking! It’s terrible Ha!

She’s actually doing better with her now. Perhaps she was being disciplined that one day? She is still a very feisty chick (maybe a boy?) the other two were very slow at getting to the food so maybe mom was trying to get her to let the others eat more and her to slow down.

She still pecks and pushes at her from time to time. No blood, or I’d have her outta there in a heartbeat, and the chick doesn’t act hurt at all. Mom still let’s her climb all over her, sleep under her, the only thing is she will keep her away from food ‘sometimes’ now, where as that one day (the day I posted) she was kept away quite a lot, but it just that one day. Very interesting

@Wyorp Rock

 

[Yardmom]

Sometimes mamas try to pull babies back under. It may be she was being over protective if it was being out more than she thought it should. I would be more concerned if she wasn't letting it be by her.

 

[jBabychickn]

Sometimes mamas try to pull babies back under. It may be she was being over protective if it was being out more than she thought it should. I would be more concerned if she wasn't letting it be by her.

Exactly, I do very much agree. — Feeling much better about her behavior now; I should say feeling better about ‘both’ of their behaviors, as they both seem to be understanding each other better…

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I know!! That’s exactly what I was thinking! It’s terrible Ha!

She’s actually doing better with her now. Perhaps she was being disciplined that one day? She is still a very feisty chick (maybe a boy?) the other two were very slow at getting to the food so maybe mom was trying to get her to let the others eat more and her to slow down.

She still pecks and pushes at her from time to time. No blood, or I’d have her outta there in a heartbeat, and the chick doesn’t act hurt at all. Mom still let’s her climb all over her, sleep under her, the only thing is she will keep her away from food ‘sometimes’ now, where as that one day (the day I posted) she was kept away quite a lot, but it just that one day. Very interesting

@Wyorp Rock

If she's doing better with her now, then I'd just keep watch on her. Personally I've never had a broody push or keep chicks from feed, they encourage them to come to food.

Are you using a chick feeder or?

 

[jBabychickn]

If she's doing better with her now, then I'd just keep watch on her. Personally I've never had a broody push or keep chicks from feed, they encourage them to come to food.

Are you using a chick feeder or?

A chick feeder and I still have a shallow lid in there with feed, but I’ll be removing that soon as it’s getting covered with savings now that they are more active. She seems to take feed out of the feeder tho and put it on the ground then shows them where it is. She tidbits like a rooster. She’s not keeping her from food anymore.

However, she did have 3 chicks, but 1 didn’t make it, now that she’s down to two, she’s accepting the partridge.

Maybe 3 was too much for her? Or she knew there was something wrong with that one?
Now she has 1 black and 1 partridge

 

[Paz]

A chick feeder and I still have a shallow lid in there with feed, but I’ll be removing that soon as it’s getting covered with savings now that they are more active. She seems to take feed out of the feeder tho and put it on the ground then shows them where it is. She tidbits like a rooster. She’s not keeping her from food anymore.

However, she did have 3 chicks, but 1 didn’t make it, now that she’s down to two, she’s accepting the partridge.

Maybe 3 was too much for her? Or she knew there was something wrong with that one?
Now she has 1 black and 1 partridge

Three isn’t too many usually. Maybe she caught something.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A chick feeder and I still have a shallow lid in there with feed, but I’ll be removing that soon as it’s getting covered with savings now that they are more active. She seems to take feed out of the feeder tho and put it on the ground then shows them where it is. She tidbits like a rooster. She’s not keeping her from food anymore.

However, she did have 3 chicks, but 1 didn’t make it, now that she’s down to two, she’s accepting the partridge.

Maybe 3 was too much for her? Or she knew there was something wrong with that one?
Now she has 1 black and 1 partridge

I'm sorry that you lost one of them.

It's good that she's accepting the Partridge one now. 3 chicks should not have been too many for her, but you never know, some broodies can become overwhelmed.

Tidbitting is great! She's doing what Mamas do, totally normal to take pieces of food out of the feeder and put it on the ground.

Sounds like things are settling down and going good.