Hen scared of babies?

[frostic]

Hello, so I put the baby chicks in a cage and put them with mommy hen, the chickies seem happy and give no mind to mommy hen,

but mommie is sooo scared of the babies?

she was hiding in the corner panting with her mouth open as much as she could, sitting in the position where chickens sit when they are submitting to you with her wings open and squatting and allowing you to pick her up and being really really vocal about it. and would curl up in a ball when I approched her and started flapping her wings and acting so scared, as soon as I took the baby chickies away she stopped freaking out and went back to being a normal chicken LOL shes such a chicken LMAO. more info, she was running away from the babies to hide.

is this normal behavior for a mommy hen to be scared of baby chicks?

I seen my hen kill rats, eat a gofer baby once, kicked a cat's butt so bad the cat died in my neighbors back yard so shes not scared of other animals and will stand up against dogs and peck at them but when it came to baby chicks shes scared? i don't get it.

I just checked on mommy hen and she's walking around but pooping water everywhere. I think i tramatized her waking up with chicks in her coop?


a little history:

chickie(momma) was in a flock of 3 hens i had till my neighbor killed 2 of them when they was 13 months old. then the VND quarantine started so chickie has been alone for 2 years. i keep her inside in winter and bring her in on hot days, she plays and is is not scared of people or other animals.
she gets treats and loves all my friends, i can pick her up and her sit on my lap but when the chicks are in the room she fights me and wants to run and hide. its so frustrating. I don't have any clue what to do.
i'm going to keep bringing her in for 10 to 20 mins a day so shes not so scared of them. i just don't get why shes so scared of them.

 

[frostic]

@Wyorp Rock Have you ever seen this type of behavior?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is the hen actually broody and she hatched these chicks?

How much space does she have and how did you introduce those chicks?

Adult hens that are not broody do not really like chicks all that much - or that's the way my hens are.

Sounds like your hen overheated and stressed out - I would make sure she's got fresh cool water and see if her poop straightens out.

 

[frostic]

no. they are not her chicks they was hatched 5 days ago at a feed store.. i'm introducing them slowly because shes been depressed the vet said to get some chicks and she would start producing eggs again once they get older and they are part of her flock.. shes got a 8x6x20ft coop and half an acre to free range. shes got plenty of room. shes fine when the chicks are not around. she seems scared of them. they are 5 days old. shes 2 years and 10 months old.

last night i put the chicks in the cage i showed you in my other post, put them in with her, and as soon as it got light out she freaked out.

i brought her in to do a test, as soon as she seen the chicks she started panting her neck and opening her mouth again. shes totally freaked out about chicks.
how will i be able to introduce them with her if she is so freaked out?
this sucks. I got them to help her because she stopped laying eggs and the vet said her health is great that chickens will stop laying eggs if they are alone for long times without other chickens around. she suggested getting more chickens and slowly introduce them and thats what i'm trying to do.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh, well, yeah - she's not liking being invaded. She's not a Mommy Hen, she's not going to accept chicks if she's not broody, so you'll have to be patient and go slow with integration.

It might be the cage she's freaking out about? Hard to know...you may want to put the cage outside where she free ranges and let her see the chicks there.

Surprisingly, a lot of birds do not seem mind one bit being alone. Having company, other chickens around, etc. is not going to make her resume laying eggs. She may have acted or seemed depressed for another reason - if she's not been laying eggs she may have a reproductive disorder.

 

[frostic]

Oh, well, yeah - she's not liking being invaded. She's not a Mommy Hen, she's not going to accept chicks if she's not broody, so you'll have to be patient and go slow with integration.

It might be the cage she's freaking out about? Hard to know...you may want to put the cage outside where she free ranges and let her see the chicks there.

Surprisingly, a lot of birds do not seem mind one bit being alone. Having company, other chickens around, etc. is not going to make her resume laying eggs. She may have acted or seemed depressed for another reason - if she's not been laying eggs she may have a reproductive disorder.

My vet said shes healthy and no problems. I had taken her in to see if she was egg bound.
my vet said she was depressed. I don't know. i'm going off what she said.
I think my chicken is stressed maybe she remembers the death of her sisters and seeing chicks in the brooder made her freak out. I'll try without the cage tomorrow and see if she does ok with just the chick. maybe your right the cage scares her. but we will try again tomorrow.

EDIT: also chickie layed eggs till 2 months ago she stopped. thats when i took her to the vet.

 

[frostic]

one thing about chickie, she has brain damage from when my neighbor tried to kill all my chickens.... shes scared of people until they are around her for a while.. she's the only one that survived him trying to kill them all 2 years ago. she likes my friends but new people she runs and hides.

 

[black_cat]

one thing about chickie, she has brain damage from when my neighbor tried to kill all my chickens.... shes scared of people until they are around her for a while.. she's the only one that survived him trying to kill them all 2 years ago. she likes my friends but new people she runs and hides.

Out of curiosity, why did your neighbor want to kill your chickens? I'm sorry if this is a sad topic for you, you don't have to answer.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My vet said shes healthy and no problems. I had taken her in to see if she was egg bound.
my vet said she was depressed. I don't know. i'm going off what she said.
I think my chicken is stressed maybe she remembers the death of her sisters and seeing chicks in the brooder made her freak out. I'll try without the cage tomorrow and see if she does ok with just the chick. maybe your right the cage scares her. but we will try again tomorrow.

EDIT: also chickie layed eggs till 2 months ago she stopped. thats when i took her to the vet.

one thing about chickie, she has brain damage from when my neighbor tried to kill all my chickens.... shes scared of people until they are around her for a while.. she's the only one that survived him trying to kill them all 2 years ago. she likes my friends but new people she runs and hides.

I see. Well. I would monitor closely putting the chicks near her, she may attack them.

 

[frostic]

Out of curiosity, why did your neighbor want to kill your chickens? I'm sorry if this is a sad topic for you, you don't have to answer.

Well he was a meth addict, I caught him stealing stuff while i was asleep with a camera.
I then confronted him and his girlfriend went off on him and someone called the cops, the land lord came and eveicted them once i showed him the video of him stealing all my tools.
the next day after they moved out I caught them again. they stole $600 worth of lawn furnature and i called the cops. the next day I went out and found 2 dead chickens and chickie was barely alive. i nursed her back and had her ever since. the vet said both chickens necks was broken and they had lots of broken bones. i guess he was hitting them with a sick or something.