Mama Hen not the best... 2 issues

[CackleFruitCrnr]

Mabel is my (almost) one-year-old bantam easter egger who went broody mid April/first part of May. I had an order of day-old chicks scheduled to arrive mid-May so we made sure she was truly broody, let her sit on fake eggs and then slipped the chicks under her the evening of their arrival. All went well and Mama has been raising her babies just fine....except....Mabel is the very last in the pecking order. When her 3 other flock mates come around she doesn't go into "crazy Mama" mode. She runs from the flock mates and leaves the 2 chicks where they are. The flockmates on a couple of occasions have pecked or gone after the littles and I've had to step in.

I have a small coop and have fashioned a small "mini-run" that butts up to the nesting box to keep Mama and chickies separate from the rest of the flock. Unfortunately, I work during the day so during my lunch I run home, let everyone out for 30 min to stretch their wings and the back into the mini-run they go until I get home and can let them free range. The rest of the flock hangs out in their 140 sq ft enclosed run (only half is shaded). Today I tried putting Mama and babies in a pet playpen in the run today at lunch but trying to catch everyone is time-consuming and left me SOAKED in sweat as I returned to work

So my questions are:
1: What do I do with a mama who flees for her safety and leaves the babies?
2: I'm in North Texas and we're just starting a triple-digit heatwave, it's too hot to leave Mama and the babies in the "mini-run" inside the coop all day. How do I safely let the entire flock mingle and not end up with dead chickies?

Thanks in advance for your advice! Ya'll are a wealth of info and so appreciated!!!!

 

[ashlierami]

Mabel is my (almost) one-year-old bantam easter egger who went broody mid April/first part of May. I had an order of day-old chicks scheduled to arrive mid-May so we made sure she was truly broody, let her sit on fake eggs and then slipped the chicks under her the evening of their arrival. All went well and Mama has been raising her babies just fine....except....Mabel is the very last in the pecking order. When her 3 other flock mates come around she doesn't go into "crazy Mama" mode. She runs from the flock mates and leaves the 2 chicks where they are. The flockmates on a couple of occasions have pecked or gone after the littles and I've had to step in.

I have a small coop and have fashioned a small "mini-run" that butts up to the nesting box to keep Mama and chickies separate from the rest of the flock. Unfortunately, I work during the day so during my lunch I run home, let everyone out for 30 min to stretch their wings and the back into the mini-run they go until I get home and can let them free range. The rest of the flock hangs out in their 140 sq ft enclosed run (only half is shaded). Today I tried putting Mama and babies in a pet playpen in the run today at lunch but trying to catch everyone is time-consuming and left me SOAKED in sweat as I returned to work

So my questions are:
1: What do I do with a mama who flees for her safety and leaves the babies?
2: I'm in North Texas and we're just starting a triple-digit heatwave, it's too hot to leave Mama and the babies in the "mini-run" inside the coop all day. How do I safely let the entire flock mingle and not end up with dead chickies?

Thanks in advance for your advice! Ya'll are a wealth of info and so appreciated!!!!

I actually dealt with a similar issue back in December . My partridge silkie hatched out a single chick. Of course she was the bottom of the pecking order since she's a silkie mixed with full size chickens. To keep her safe I kept her in a coop with a small run. It was cold bit she did just fine. I understand it's summer and the heat could be an issue. You need a pen of some sort to separate then until they are old enough to fend for themselves. I wouldn't trust to ever leave them together you will come home to dead chicks. I also noticed with a broody hen her absence for 21 days affects her oecing order. With mine once mama comes out everything is re-established with the order and she either goes back in her place or is at the bottom until she's not raising her chicks. If you put her in a pen or run maybe you could make shade . I also use battery powered fans currently. I do not have a huge pen but it's big enough for mama and her 2 chicks until they can go with the others.