Intergrating new chicks with over protective mama into flock

[Soap Junkie]

I am having the worst time with this! The truth is the flock seems to be ignoring the chicks, no one has tried to attack yet, but mama wants to attach everyone and she is getting her butt whipped! One chicken will start to attach her and then others join in and I am at a loss at what to do. Right now I have mama and 3 week old babies in a large dog kenel in the coop. They are seperated from the flock but everyone can see each other. I work all day and live in a subdivision with no fencing so I cant let the mama out to free range so she has to be penned up in the kenel with the chicks until I get home at 5:30. I was hoping they would all get along so that I can let them all out together in the run, at least there is a breeze outside. We are hitting 95 to 100 every day for the next 5 days at least and I am getting worried. Not to mention that mama keeps knocking the waterer that I have hanging and she is dumping nearly all the gallon out in a few hours so I dont even think they are getting water during the day. This is making me crazy!!!!!

 

[Soap Junkie]

No one? Well I tried again this weekend to mix her in with the flock. The babies are starting to seperate a bit from her so while they were busy scratching I put mama in a large fenced garden (long story but the chickens get my garden this year) and with in 1 minute 3 of them were on her. Is there a way to maybe remove the main aggressors and put them in a cage seperated from the flock and let her get back in with the less aggressise birds? It seems that one of them starts the attack and then a few others will join in.

I dont understand this at all. She has been in plain site the entire time, just in the kenel which is a wire kennel so not like they couldnt see her. I am pretty sure they are going to kill her if I put her back like this. Please any with suggestions would be REALLY appreciated!

 

[Nicole01]

You have to reintegrate momma. If it were me, I'd keep her with the chicks if possible and integrate when the babies are 3 months old.

The way I integrate is a dog kennel inside the coop. As soon as the youngest ones is fully feathered(4 weeks), they go in the dog kennel inside the coop until they are around 3 months.

At 3 months old I put them on the roost watching them in the morning. I don't have any natural light in my coop with both doors closed, so this is easy. Anyways, I've never had an issue. I'm now on my 3rd batch of integration in one year. Silly chicken math has gotten the best of me.

I just tried a broody, but she ate 2 live full grown pipping chicks! I was not happy and rehomed the broody. I could not snap her out of the broodiness and my flock was too harsh on her. Out of 6 viable eggs, 3 lived. The one egg didn't make it in my homemade incubator. Next time I hatch, I'll have the right equipment. I got 3 babies that I will keep if girls. They hatched last week. They are going in the coop early since its warm out.

Here's my new hatch. The one on the right- I took out of the egg myself. The shell was too thick and the chicks egg beak was worn down to nothing. It was 1/2 shrink wrapped in the egg, but with some vitamins and TLC the baby made a full recovery. I have one barred rock and 2 barred rock/Easter eggers.

Miracle chick!

 

[Soap Junkie]

They are cute. I know the little buggers can really grow on ya!

Problem is that the chicks are fine with the other chickens. They for the most part just ignore them all together. Its the mama I cant get back in the flock. They have been in the coop in a dog kennel that all were visible to each other. I could understand if I had remvoed her from the coop and kept her in the garage or something, but they have all been together with just a wire between them.

My thought is that the mama chicken was the head honcho in the begining, i believe this because they did their pecking order a long time ago and I have not had any fights until I put the broody on the eggs in the kennel. About a week after that I noticed them start to fight again, my guess new pecking order. Now that mama was gone for 5 weeks (in the kennel in the coop) she is low man on the totum pole and they are ganging up on her.

I am at such a loss here.

I have not had one single issue since I got the chickens a year ago, but now I think I may have to do in a chicken. They are such good egg layers too!!

 

[Soap Junkie]

Well I guess no one really has any advice on this so can I ask a question? If I try this again and find the "angry birds" and take them out of the coop and in to the garage in a dog kennel for say a week and then reintorduce them back. Does this have a chance of working? Has anyone had say a sick bird that was removed for a few weeks and had this problem when reintroduced? I can not get over how aggressive the rest of them are to her now. Well I should actually say the 3 to 5 birds I have seen go after her anyway. They are all Isa Browns and I have the worst time trying to tell them apart!

Thanks everyone, I know there is no good way to do this, I was just looking for some suggestions.

 

[Nicole01]

I hope someone chimes in their ideas. I couldn't re introduce my broody to the bunch. My older hens were too mean. Maybe you need more time in the dog kennel or putting on the roost at night.

My broody was unwilling to defend herself. I did make a saddle pad, but it was too hot to wear. I gave up. I was pretty upset my broody ate pipping chicks anyways. I think I'll hatch my own with an incubator in the future. It's much easier integrating a group vs a single hen.

Good luck!

 

[Soap Junkie]

I hope someone chimes in their ideas. I couldn't re introduce my broody to the bunch. My older hens were too mean. Maybe you need more time in the dog kennel or putting on the roost at night.

My broody was unwilling to defend herself. I did make a saddle pad, but it was too hot to wear. I gave up. I was pretty upset my broody ate pipping chicks anyways. I think I'll hatch my own with an incubator in the future. It's much easier integrating a group vs a single hen.

Good luck!

I hope someone has some ideas too. I am hoping that half the problem is she is still so occupied with the chicks that she is not willing to defend herself?? Grabbing at straws here. Thanks for the response.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I would grab the hen that's leading the attacks. She was prob dominent over the broody anyway, see if they get along better then, the chicks will be on there own soon, but give broody a chance to get back into the flock. Good luck.

 

[lisaequine1]

I'm having the same problem but I have five mommas with chicks. The chicks are all around a month old now and the hens are losing interest in them so I've been trying to get them all moved back together. I have three moms/babies together in a seperation of the coop and the other two in another seperation. They can all see each other and have been able to the entire time. As like what you said the other chickens all seem to just ignore the chicks but there are a few of the mommy hens that just can't get along now with their old friends. It's a real pain in the you know what!

 

[Soap Junkie]

It is really driving me crazy! I am going to wait for the mama to finish up with the chicks, then put them all together again and when I figure out who the culprit is, I will give her a home in the garage in a cage for a week. Then try to intergrate them back together. So much extra work! I will let you know if I have any success. Right now my chicks are 1 month old, so I figure the mama should be done in the next few weeks. I may even try again to put them all together and try to get the mean one out, but I dont know. They seem to join in once one attacks her.