My hen is pecking the chicks and my roosters are fighting

[gracierooster]

(1) I have two sister hens who sat on eggs for 19 days (wooded ones) and I pulled them out yesterday evening and stuck new pullet chicks under them. The sat on them all night and today one seems determined to peck at them constantly. I have 13 chicks and the little bantam hens are small, I'm afraid to pull her because the one might not have enough room under her.


(2) Will my roosters stop fighting once they have established a hiarchy? I only have 13 hens and 4 roosters (I thought only one was a rooster) and got extra pullet chicks so they would be a bit happier eventually. They are locked up at night in a nice sized house and freerange all day.

Thanks!!!

 

[sourland]

If the one hen refuses to adopt the chicks, I would remove her before she injures them. It all depends upon how vigorously she is after them. Your roosters will test their boundaries throughout their lives. Each wants to become the dominant flockmaster. It's all in the nature of the critters.

 

[gracierooster]

Thank you for your reply, I think I'm going to remover her. thanks

 

[sunnychooks]

That's a lot of roosters for the number of hens you will have. Ideally, you should have one rooster for every 8 - 12 hens, so you may end up having to make a decision on one of the roosters.
If the hens are pecking the chicks or if only one is accepting them and you think she has too many to care for, you might want to consider putting some or all in a brooder.

 

[gracierooster]

I actually got the 13 chicks to disburse the rooster hen ratio, it will just take a bit of time. I ended up taking the nasty hen out and putting a heat lamp in with the chicks and hen. I also put in a heat rock with a feather duster over it to use as a second hen. so far, everything is working. thanks.