help me help the mama!

[yellowfinns]

We had two broodies at once; gave them both hatching eggs on the same day...Rosie's eggs hatched first, and #2's hatched over the next two days. Rosie took care of #2's chicks until they all hatched, and then the two mamas took care of all the babies together.

Then Rosie got a snake bite on her foot successfully defending the chicks from a 3 foot rat snake, and we've been doctoring her daily since Friday. Her foot has been improving by the day, and today she was finally putting a lot of weight on the foot and barely limping at all.

But now #2 has decided she is the mama and keeps chasing Rosie away from the chicks. And tonight poor Rosie is back in the nest box. It actually brought tears to my eyes to see her there, all alone.

We think it may be because we keep taking Rosie out to doctor her and then she comes back smelling like hydrogen peroxide.

We think Rosie is the better mama. She sat for weeks before we gave her eggs, and she stayed on the eggs better than #2. She's always been the most flighty of our chickens (read: least comfortable w/people), and at the bottom of the pecking order, but she is great with the chicks. And clearly protective. I'm certain she would mother the chicks for longer than #2 would, given the chance.

So we're thinking of putting #2 in the tractor (3x4 feet or so, with wire the chicks can go right through) in the pen so that Rosie can get the chicks back. Would this work? Would #2 forget about being the mama after a few days of this?

 

[Chickenmaven]

We had a situation where we took day-old chicks away from #1, gave them to #2 and then back to #1. It all worked out.

It was a little flakey: What happened was that we had #1 in a pen with chicks, but found out it was not secure when the flock stole & killed a chick.

It was evening & all we could do was to put the chicks where we thought they'd be safe - in with #2. Then the next day, when the chicks were becoming more mobile, we realized that the pen #2 was in would be difficult for these bantam chicks to access the food & get back in the nest with Mom2. The only answer (what with two unsatisfactory pens) was to brooder the chicks in a large dog kennel. Since #1 is a silkie and #2 is a Wyandotte, the silkie "won." We were very worried that #2 would be waaaay sad.

She moped around the coop for a day or so and is now back with the flock.
My advice is to not over think this in terms of either hen being "worthy" or "sad." Just be the farmer & make the smart choice that will keep the chicks safe.

 

[RAWR]

aww! thats sad!

and it could be because she smells weird

 

[yellowfinns]

Quote:
Yup, I think you're right! But which one is the smart choice? They are all in w/the other hens...

I see 3 options:
1) Just let them sort it out.
2) Isolate Rosie.
3) Isolate #2.

Both are first time mamas, so we can't examine past experience as to who is the better protector. Rosie is always at the bottom of the pecking order, but she's been more protective of the chicks towards the non-mama hens, and since she sustained the snake bite we assume she was more proactive and effective in defending them against the snake. (When I found the snake, both mamas were sitting with all the chicks in their nest not 3 feet from the snake.) And as I said above, I think Rosie would mother the chicks longer. Would #2 mother them for long enough? <shrug>

Thoughts? Other ideas?