Hen chasing and hurting her baby chicks! HELP!

[lovelyduckling]

So I have a rooster,hen,and 5 baby chicks. When we first got chicks (our hen is one of them)we had two barred rock chicks. Rocky, our rooster, always picked on them.When one of them died, Rocky started taking care of Little-bit more (our hen)but we still had to separate them because he pulled feathers off her. When she got older and layed some eggs he backed off. She went broody and we got 7 baby chicks (2 are gone somehow) the chicks are about 2 months old and Little-bit is treating them like our rooster did her. She doesn't take care of them any more and doesn't keep them warm. She now chases them when they get close to her and pecks them. She became distant after the other chicks went missing and they are all getting to higher ground. They are all free ranged. Pls help me!

 

[sourland]

This is normal behavior. She is weaning them. Make sure they have access to feed and water and have enough space to get away from her.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

This is her letting them go,abandoning them which all mother hens do it.It's how they show the chicks it's time for her to go back doing what she usually does,spending time with the bigger ones,and laying eggs.

 

[lovelyduckling]

Yes, thank you! It just seems like she's hurting them. She chases them away from her and plucks a couple of feathers off of them. My rooster does the same thing.

 

[lovelyduckling]

Thank you

 

[lovelyduckling]

Ok so now I know she's not weaning them. Last night I went out to check on them and one of them was beside her. I turned the flashlight on and when she saw the chick she bit as hard as she could.The chick was screaming so loud I had to go seperate them.I looked over the chick and saw that it had blood all over it. I really want to solve this problem! We should be putting up a coop today or this week and I'm going to seperate them for awhile. If you have any ideas to help this pls help! Thank you!

 

[azygous]

No, she is weaning them, but she's being a jerk about it. Chickens have different personalities just as people do. This hen just isn't cut out to be patient with her chicks.

The chicks will learn eventually to steer clear of this bad tempered mama. Meanwhile, you could add a few more perches to the run, if they spend their time penned up. Find an old card table and feed the chicks on top the table. They will then start to use the table as a refuge from their wicked mom.

Look over the chick that got pecked. If the wound is raw and bleeding, you will need to paint some Blu-kote on it or it will become a victim to further pecking and the wound will only get worse. Left raw and bleeding, the flock could even kill it.

 

[lovelyduckling]

Ok thank you! We got the coop set up today and it's perfect! We got the attachment to it and we keep the chicks in that part, We keep the rooster in the middle with his perch, and we keep our hen in the nesting part of the coop. They are still getting used to it (the chicks having a hard time doing so)they keep trying to jump through the wire to where our rooster sits. But I'm sure they will all get used to it. We are hoping our hen starts laying eggs in the box and now that she's away from the rooster we can get fresh unfertilized eggs. Of course we will wait about a week to make sure they aren't fertilized and if she goes broody we will put the latest fertile eggs under her for more chicks. Well thank you anyway. I'm glad she's not doing this just because she's mean but now they are seperated.

 

[lovelyduckling]

The chick is fine now! We put medicine on the wound and that stops the chicks from pecking at it. The feathers will grow back soon. Thanks!