mother hen pecking at own chick

[luvmesomechicks]

okay heres my story, due to some unfortunate circumstances I inherited a group of chickens. (lol please excuse my ignorance perhaps there is a name for them). Anyhow one hen just hatched 5 baby chicks. Now one the chicks goes out on his own and doesnt really follow the mom around like the rest of them. Everytime he/she gets near the mom the mom pecks at the back of his head. Not sure how to combat this or what is the purpose of her doing this.

Note: while i am still a newb when it comes to these birds, is it okay for the baby chicks to interact with a fellow hen (not its mother) and a rooster? I dont think these are fully matured. TBH i dont even know what a matured age is. All i know is that the hens and rooster are about 11 months old. Please any answers will help since im probably doing this the wrong way.
Thanks,
Richard

edit, chicks are almost 2 weeks old

 

[TeamChaos]

Is the chick who gets picked on older, bigger or a different color than the others? I've got my first group of broody hens and one of the moms completely disowned her black chicks and picks on any black chicks near hers.
My babies (about a week old now) cross paths with the other hens and roosters in the run and the broody mamas do a good job defending them against anyone who gets too interested. I make sure that no other hens/roosters are around when I give the babies snacks or else they will get trampled. Does the mama keep the babies in the coop with the other birds?

 

[luvmesomechicks]

The chick is the same color as another one so color may not be the issue, however it is smaller (not significantly smaller)than the rest. Can this be why??? The last few days it will leave the mom while the rest stay close to her but because of the pecking today it has kept its distance. It is starting to get dark now should i seperate it from the rest or dare put it in with its mom to keep it warm?