mother seems to be attacking chick

[Mom2Cool]

Well I think by the time 3 or 4 weeks has gone by these chickens just want back on the roost with the rest of the flock. Initially when my BO girl left her chicks they didn't try to get on the roost at night but rather where just confused & at night they would huddle down together without her. Another poster on BYC (atually several) had cautioned me when my girl went broody to put more than 1 egg under broody girl so it wouldn't be a single chick & I think because there was 3 it helped too. It was after a few nights that they started to realize mom was up on the perch & they would try to get up there with her.... LOL She just won't have it. Buff Orpingtons are extremely docile birds & I don't see her eating them she's just indifferent to them. They all free range all day & she has no problem with them. Actually it was kind of cute because originally I'd been concerned about the rooster in the coop first when they were hatched & then in the yard just because you hear horror stories about roos & chicks etc but it was the rooster who started feeding the chicks along with all the girls he normally feeds! Hubby & I often laugh because the chicks will literally steal snacks being handed out right from the roos mouth & he just allows it. Anyway I hate to move them all back out now though I believe that 2 of the 3 are roos & so at some point I'll have to separate them from my Roo Mr. Standoffish anyway.

 

[Mom2Cool]

Quote:
Makes me wonder, do you call this BO hen "Joan"?? Or is it Ms. Crawford???? Or better yet, Mommy Dearest?

LOL that is a good name! I hate to admit this but my buff Orpington girls look SO much alike I can never tell them apart to name them! My Roo has a name Mr. Standoffish & I have 1 black austrolorp I call Miss Chicky but the BO girls have always just always blended in together.... I always feel so bacd because who doesn't name their chickens??? LOL & now I've got a really good name for at least 1! The only time I can tell who she is is at dusk when she's chasing her youngin's away from her roost. I don't mind saying in spotting her in the act naming her miss beotch has occured to me too. LOL

 

[Eggs4Sale]

I have 8 black stars with no names. Except 'broody hen', because she looks different than the others since she's broody. I just refer to them as 'ladies.' "Hello, ladies!" I sorta feel like a lounge club act.

 

[Mom2Cool]

Eggs4sale thank you! I feels so much better now because that's exactly how I address my hens "good morning ladies". LOL

 

[Backyard Hencam]

I don't mind saying that my Buff Orpingtons are the *sweetest breed* you'll ever see & the Rooster I have has just been a darling with the chicks but watching the mom after she decides she is NOT a mom anymore congers up images of Joan Crawford in my mind & I wonder how a sweet heart can go so cold in the turn of a day.... And then I see myself & others I know with kids struggling to get started & we help, help, help some more & I wonder if we shouldn't all just take a page from the book of these hens? LOL

Some thoughts worth pondering here.

 

[goldnchocolate]

I put my mother hen in with the rest of the big chickens the other day because she seemed so irritable to her 5 wk old babies. She left them and never looked back

and the poor little babies (3 of them) looked so lost without her that first night all cuddled up together. I didn't feel too bad because they are in a little area that is connected with the other chickens but they are separated until they are a little bigger.

 

[Mom2Cool]

Quote:
Some thoughts worth pondering here.

Can you tell I've young adult children??? LOL I love my babies all of em but there are moments I can see why a hen just wants them to get away from her now....