Mama hen pecking on babies

[AshG]

My broody hen hatch 8 babies about 4 weeks ago. Today she repeatedlt kept savagely attacking one of her chicks. They have all be in a run attached to my other ladies run. I removed mama and put her in with the other adults and it was like she never left. My question is however, tonight the chicks will be in their brooder box alone. They are mostly feathered but our summer nights have been cool lately (14°-15°C/57-59°F). Will they be okay without a heat source? They have been going outside with their mama since about 3 days old.

 

[sourland]

As long as they are dry and draft free, they will be fine. Mom decided that it was time to wean them.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

As long as they are dry and draft free, they will be fine. Mom decided that it was time to wean them.

2x

On a side note from my experience, the attacked chick "might" be a cockerel. I've had multiple brooders be more aggressive towards their cockerels than their pullets. I'm not saying this is the 100% case, but it might be something worth taking note of. Because the chicks are only 4 weeks old and she's done, she might not be that great of a brooder. If she was my bird, I'd ban her from hatching again, though others might still chance it with her. What breed is she? Some breeds are better and longer brooders than others. Breed sometimes doesn't always play a role, but I'm still interested in knowing.

 

[AshG]

As long as they are dry and draft free, they will be fine. Mom decided that it was time to wean them.

Thank you!!

 

[AshG]

2x

On a side note from my experience, the attacked chick "might" be a cockerel. I've had multiple brooders be more aggressive towards their cockerels than their pullets. I'm not saying this is the 100% case, but it might be something worth taking note of. Because the chicks are only 4 weeks old and she's done, she might not be that great of a brooder. If she was my bird, I'd ban her from hatching again, though others might still chance it with her. What breed is she? Some breeds are better and longer brooders than others. Breed sometimes doesn't always play a role, but I'm still interested in knowing.

She is a red sex link that went broody and I couldn’t break her. Gave her 12 eggs and 8 hatched and are thriving. I had no intentions of letting her hatch but was the easiest solution to break her broodiness. I’m new to chickens and was under the impression that RSL’s rarely go broody so fingers crossed that is the end of it.

 

[AshG]

Here are photos to show how « feathered » they are.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

She is a red sex link that went broody and I couldn’t break her. Gave her 12 eggs and 8 hatched and are thriving. I had no intentions of letting her hatch but was the easiest solution to break her broodiness. I’m new to chickens and was under the impression that RSL’s rarely go broody so fingers crossed that is the end of it.

Yeah, I've been raising RSL for years and never had one go broody. On a bantam that I had quit early, she never went broody again. How did you try breaking her broodiness? So far, out of the methods I've tried, broody jail is the only thing that works for my determined brooders. Broody jail is two kennels (cages) stacked on top of each other with no trays. I put a small board inside for the broody to perch on and a small feeder and waterer. With this set up, the hen has no privacy, so she can't technically broody anything. I leave my brooder inside for a few days (lately I've been putting mine in for the weekend) and that stop them until they go broody again.

 

[DaisyG2317]

She is a red sex link that went broody and I couldn’t break her. Gave her 12 eggs and 8 hatched and are thriving. I had no intentions of letting her hatch but was the easiest solution to break her broodiness. I’m new to chickens and was under the impression that RSL’s rarely go broody so fingers crossed that is the end of it.

My Isa Brown (RSL) is 3 years old and has gone broody 2 years in a row