Mom rejecting chicks

[HollowOfWisps]

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

I fully understand her lol my husband and I booked a bed and breakfast get away with a romantic dinner package. When we went to dinner the owner of the bed and breakfast would not stop coming into the dining room to talk. Finally she said “you two don’t seem very talkative this evening”. I said “Lady, I have two young boys and all I want right now is to have one meal with some peace and quiet where no one is asking me questions.”. She got the hint

 

[FlockofManyColors623]

How big is the coop?

Pretty small, but they sleep on the bottom part and are free rangers that is just where they sleep.

 

[FlockofManyColors623]

Has the cockerel been trying to mount at all yet?

Yes, but she chased him away.

 

[FlockofManyColors623]

Also the mom, usually quiet, has been screaming a lot.

 

[skeeeter]

One of the reasons I try to have a grow-out coop, which we pop the broody mom and chicks into, is because we have 5 sons and DW does NEED away-time from our loving, well-behaved, energetic boys sometimes.
When the hen decides "times up" she moves back to the main coop(Ours free range afternoons)

 

[fluffycrow]

You are witnessing what junglefowl would be doing in the wild.

After the mother is done with showing the chicks what she thinks they need to learn, she will chase them away. After some convincing, they will leave the group they grew up in, to form a group, or join other groups of their own. In our domestic setting, much of this still applies.

Our broodies still chase away/wean their offspring after they decide that they have learnt what is needed. Sometimes, however, the juveniles physically can't form their own group, possibly because they are kept in one coop all day without free ranging, or possibly because there is no second coop, so they can't have some distance from the senior birds.

In most cases, the birds work it out in the end, especially when the younger pullets reach laying age. Still, sub-groups can be detectable.

Each hen has her own way of weaning her chicks. Some are very mild with their weaning, others chase them away with pecks and a few kicks, but some just can't stand living in the same pen with the offspring they raised, no matter what.

Having a large coop usually helps; the youngsters roost on one side, and the adults on the other. When the youngsters grow older, they might start joining the adults, as mentioned before.

Your coop is just too small. Mum can't have her space respected in such a small space, unfortunately, and it seems like the chicks were persistent enough to kick her out. Having a second coop seems like the only scenario for now, at least until a couple of the pullets start laying

 

[Mrs. K]

You need a bigger coop, especially going into winter. If you have winter they will roost up from 4:30 to 7:30 a long time to be cooped up. Very ugly behaviors will start. By winter the chicks will be bigger too, making a worse problem.

 

[nao57]

It helps to consider how they are programmed. Both chickens, ducks, and other waterfowl they are born with intact instincts where they automatically can tell what food is right away. Its actually amazing that it works so well. So you can raise chickens and have them be fine even when the mom isn't in the picture from an egg incubator; this is why it works.

So... their instincts are born active. They look at something and can tell; that's delicious.

So you will be OK letting the young chicks be away from the mother hen from now. But I liked your process of asking and wanting to find out. That's how you can find out more.

 

[nao57]

Also... her babying and caring for the chicks this long... is very much like a mom breastfeeding her kids until they are 12 years old. Most of them quit much earlier than this.