Need help regarding a momma hen and her chick

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

We don’t have the money to buy a dog crate like that at the moment. We do have an old cage that we used for our Orpingtons back when they were chicks. Problem is I’m pretty sure it’s a wire cage and I heard of wire cages breaking hens out of their broody nature. There’s a metal cover we could put on the bottom but it’s real rusty and I don’t know if that would help anyway. On top of that my dad’s concerned that it may not be tall enough for the mom. Even if we do use it we’d need to clean it real good first since it’s been out in the elements for quite a while.View attachment 3197402

Sounds like normal behaviour to me. I would allow her to do her thing with the chick unless you can see the chick is getting hurt.
If you must seperate them ... That cage doesn't look big enough, you said your new coop will be ready, just needs a clean? So I assume it would be ready within a few hours at most? If not then I would use that cage there and the basket or a couple other things (if you don't have wire fencing spare) to use as a fence block to enclose them in a larger area. Do you know what I mean? So they can be separated but in a larger area.

 

[Brightbird]

Okay so a couple updates:

1. The chick was indeed harmed by one of the broody orpingtons. It isn’t bleeding and seems to be doing okay but there is a spot where it’s feathers were plucked. I since moved it and the mom away from the other broodies.

2. We found several issues with the small coop we were planning to put them in. All the locks are simple enough for raccoons to open, the front door is crooked and will not close properly, and the lock on the door to the nest boxes is missing a screw and about to fall out. This was an old coop that we stopped using after we moved the orpingtons to the bigger coop, and I guess the elements just took it’s toll on this one.

3. I found a stash of cash I forgot about and I do believe that it will be enough for a good sized dog crate. The local feed store has some pretty big ones, it won’t be open tomorrow but I will keep a sharp eye on the mom and baby until the next day. And of course if anything else worrying happens I will take the chick inside for the day.