Mom rejecting chicks

[FlockofManyColors623]

I need some advice.

Our hen went broody in May and we gave her a couple of eggs. Four chicks hatched May 30. They are now 10 weeks old (3 pullets and 1 cockrel) and the hen is sleeping under our shed instead of with her chicks in the coop, pecks them, chases them away from the food, and spends time alone without them. She layed her first egg for the first time in months yesterday. I don’t know if that has something to do with it. Is it just because they are getting older that she wants nothing to do with them? Can anyone give ideas or help?

 

[fluffycrow]

Mum has decided that all she can teach them has been taught, and her work is done.

Mothering them for 10 weeks is impressive; she's ready to return to her normal routine, without her offspring.

At 10 weeks old, they are more than capable to live with the group without the assistance of their mum

Hopefully she'll go broody for you again in the future, she sounds like a wonderful broody

 

[MysteryChicken]

I need some advice.

Our hen went broody in May and we gave her a couple of eggs. Four chicks hatched May 30. They are now 10 weeks old (3 pullets and 1 cockrel) and the hen is sleeping under our shed instead of with her chicks in the coop, pecks them, chases them away from the food, and spends time alone without them. She layed her first egg for the first time in months yesterday. I don’t know if that has something to do with it. Is it just because they are getting older that she wants nothing to do with them? Can anyone give ideas or help?

Mother hen usually weans her chicks around 6-12 weeks. Sometimes they'll wean chicks earlier, or later then this. There's a sight variation between individual mother hens when it comes to weaning.

Earliest I've had a hen wean chicks was 4 weeks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've had a couple of hens wean their chicks by three weeks, left them on their own to make their own way with the flock. They did. The latest has been close to three months.

The earliest I've know a hen to return to laying was 2-1/2 weeks after hatch. She weaned her chicks at 3 weeks. The main reason I know this is that she was my only green egg layer in the flock. I've had some take a long time to start laying again. One hen molted in late summer as she was raising her chicks. She finished her molt and was laying again about the time the rest molted and stopped laying. She continued laying throughout that winter. I've had some not start until the next spring.

There is nothing consistent about when they wean their chicks or start laying again. Your hen sounds totally normal.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

At 10 weeks old she should be chasing them off by now to live on their own. She basically dropped her kids off at college and just wants to enjoy a quiet house for awhile lol

 

[FlockofManyColors623]

I understand that the mother leaves the chicks after she raises and teaches them, but she won’t sleep in the coop with them and we only have one coop.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I understand that the mother leaves the chicks after she raises and teaches them, but she won’t sleep in the coop with them and we only have one coop.

How many chickens total and how big is the coop? Has the cockerel been trying to mount at all yet?

 

[FlockofManyColors623]

How many chickens total and how big is the coop? Has the cockerel been trying to mount at all yet?

The mom lived alone before her babies so it’s just her and the chicks

 

[HollowOfWisps]

The mom lived alone before her babies so it’s just her and the chicks

How big is the coop?

 

[skeeeter]

That is probably because they pester her to no end, trying to be little babies again.