Is my hen abandoning her chicks?

[ame087192]

I’m wondering if this is normal mom behavior or should I intervene?
I have a mother hen who was a surrogate to four bantam chicks. She took to them very well and has been a great mother for four weeks now. She’s been very protective of them, and introduced them to the flock. However now that the chicks are a month old she leaves them alone quite a bit. Today, she’s not sleeping with them under her, instead they are on a roost, just like the big hens. They all have their feathers, and it’s only going to drop down to 67 degrees tonight, so I don’t think they will freeze- but they are still ‘babies’.
thoughts? Should I grab them and move them to the brooder box? Or is this normal chicken behavior?
Thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Completely normal. No need to interfere, she did her job and has now decided they're big enough and is weaning them. 67F is quite warm, even with bantams I can't imagine that's an issue for 4 week olds that have been living outside.

 

[Banana01]

Your hen is probably a couple days away from laying eggs, and if she is like mine it is a trial run of abondoning the chicks a few days before. The fact that she stayed is because all the chicks made it up with her to the roost, which is really fortunate for you. Mine will do fake abandons at night to the adult roost, and jump back down for about two days before actually abandoning them. After the two or three days of faking, she will stay on the high roost and the chicks better know where they are going to sleep because she is staying in the roost and ready to lay.

 

[Aapomp831]

She’s kicking those freeloading moochers out of mamas house and making them fend for themselves completely normal. She has done her job and now it’s time to get back to her life.... she may go back to school or get a job again.

 

[ame087192]

Thank you everyone- I let nature take its course and let the babies sleep on the roost- sure enough the chicks made it through the night and were out pecking around in the morning!

 

[Aapomp831]

Thank you everyone- I let nature take its course and let the babies sleep on the roost- sure enough the chicks made it through the night and were out pecking around in the morning!

Graduation day lol... now you’re the one who has to let go. That’s the hardest part!

 

[Cj Tracker]

Completely normal. No need to interfere, she did her job and has now decided they're big enough and is weaning them. 67F is quite warm, even with bantams I can't imagine that's an issue for 4 week olds that have been living outside.

Thank you as this answered my question about five week old chicks same scenario

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

I’m wondering if this is normal mom behavior or should I intervene?
I have a mother hen who was a surrogate to four bantam chicks. She took to them very well and has been a great mother for four weeks now. She’s been very protective of them, and introduced them to the flock. However now that the chicks are a month old she leaves them alone quite a bit. Today, she’s not sleeping with them under her, instead they are on a roost, just like the big hens. They all have their feathers, and it’s only going to drop down to 67 degrees tonight, so I don’t think they will freeze- but they are still ‘babies’.
thoughts? Should I grab them and move them to the brooder box? Or is this normal chicken behavior?
Thanks!

I have my chicks doing this all the time, they actually started hating the heated lamp so I’m positive it’s fine! My chicks always sleep on roosts now