One of my flock grabbed at a chick

[BeanieBabies]

Hi all, I have three 8 month old pullets (Paprika, Bean, and Splurt), one of whom (Bean) went Very broody. I got her 4 day-old chicks yesterday, and she accepted them very happily, she's been in her nesting box eating and drinking and brooding them all day.

This afternoon I wanted to see how the other two girls would interact with mama and her chicks, and Splurt lunged at and grabbed a chick, and the Paprika flipped the chick. I'm not sure if they were attacking the chick or trying to eat her or what. The chick is uninjured, we pulled her away and shooed the hens out of the coop immediately.

The coop is now closed so nobody can get in and bother Bean or her babies.

I have a small suburban backyard and only one coop, with an inner predatorproof run and an outer enclosure encompassing a lot of my back yard.

My questions are this:
A: Why did Splurt and Paprika do that and what were they doing? They're normally extremely friendly.
B: For how long do Splurt and Paprika need to be barred from entering the coop? That's where they normally sleep but I'm not risking the chicks lives for that.
C: Do you have any advice for what to do to integrate the older girls with the chicks so that this doesn't happen again? I was under the impression that the chicks would be accepted into the flock pretty quickly.
D: Why didn't the mama do anything but make complaining noises when the baby was grabbed?

Thanks!

 

[Chickies21]

Hi all, I have three 8 month old pullets (Paprika, Bean, and Splurt), one of whom (Bean) went Very broody. I got her 4 day-old chicks yesterday, and she accepted them very happily, she's been in her nesting box eating and drinking and brooding them all day.

This afternoon I wanted to see how the other two girls would interact with mama and her chicks, and Splurt lunged at and grabbed a chick, and the Paprika flipped the chick. I'm not sure if they were attacking the chick or trying to eat her or what. The chick is uninjured, we pulled her away and shooed the hens out of the coop immediately.

The coop is now closed so nobody can get in and bother Bean or her babies.

I have a small suburban backyard and only one coop, with an inner predatorproof run and an outer enclosure encompassing a lot of my back yard.

My questions are this:
A: Why did Splurt and Paprika do that and what were they doing? They're normally extremely friendly.
B: For how long do Splurt and Paprika need to be barred from entering the coop? That's where they normally sleep but I'm not risking the chicks lives for that.
C: Do you have any advice for what to do to integrate the older girls with the chicks so that this doesn't happen again? I was under the impression that the chicks would be accepted into the flock pretty quickly.
D: Why didn't the mama do anything but make complaining noises when the baby was grabbed?

Thanks!

Hi u were my first reply thank u and this has happened before for me . a broody asil was in a cage with the chick and then I Hes red a noise and the chick dissapered this has happened alot for me and we still DONT know which predator is This but I think its a cat and I also say alot of cats coming After that happened

 

[BeanieBabies]

It's a warm night and not due to rain, so I'm going to let Paprika and Splurt sleep on the perch in their inner predator proof run tonight with the coop door closed. They'll be confused, but that'll have to be okay.

Edit: The girls having tried to ram down their coop door in distress, we've instead blocked off Bean and the babies so that they cannot get out and the others cannot get in, and let Paprika and Splurt into the coop for their roosting bars.

My plan so far is to let Paprika and Splurt out into the big enclosure with their own feeder of layer mash available, and then lock the inner enclosure behind them and open the coop door so that Bean can explore with her chicks when she wants to.

This should let the girls adjust to the idea of chicks being, well, chicks, and not food or something strange to peck in investigation. Look but don't touch.

I don't know how long for, but until I get more info I guess I'll just keep an eye and see how they're all reacting.

 

[ksbkeys]

Hi all, I have three 8 month old pullets (Paprika, Bean, and Splurt), one of whom (Bean) went Very broody. I got her 4 day-old chicks yesterday, and she accepted them very happily, she's been in her nesting box eating and drinking and brooding them all day.

This afternoon I wanted to see how the other two girls would interact with mama and her chicks, and Splurt lunged at and grabbed a chick, and the Paprika flipped the chick. I'm not sure if they were attacking the chick or trying to eat her or what. The chick is uninjured, we pulled her away and shooed the hens out of the coop immediately.

The coop is now closed so nobody can get in and bother Bean or her babies.

I have a small suburban backyard and only one coop, with an inner predatorproof run and an outer enclosure encompassing a lot of my back yard.

My questions are this:
A: Why did Splurt and Paprika do that and what were they doing? They're normally extremely friendly.
B: For how long do Splurt and Paprika need to be barred from entering the coop? That's where they normally sleep but I'm not risking the chicks lives for that.
C: Do you have any advice for what to do to integrate the older girls with the chicks so that this doesn't happen again? I was under the impression that the chicks would be accepted into the flock pretty quickly.
D: Why didn't the mama do anything but make complaining noises when the baby was grabbed?

Thanks!

I never wanted to take a chance regarding how my chickens would be towards the chicks. I made a plywood partition that was removable. I blocked off one end of the coop to temporarily house the mother hen and chicks. I did this until the chicks were getting feathers and then I moved them to a tiny coop with their mom until about half grown.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Usually the mama hen will do the introductions. That’s part of the fun of having a hen do the work. Since your chicken is a pullet and this is her first time with chicks she is probably not going to be the perfect mom right off the bat—especially if she herself was not raised by a hen. If you separate her and the chicks (which would probably be safest) you will have to do a slow reintegration later but it might be a good idea in your situation.

 

[BeanieBabies]

I only have the one small coop, but I've done a plywood partition for the night in the nesting box. Tomorrow I'm gonna head to the hardware and see if I can swap from a plywood partition to a mesh partition, both for ventilation and so that the two other girls can see but not touch the chicks and Bean. I'm a little worried about Bean losing her place in the pecking order entirely if they can't see her at all

 

[ksbkeys]

I only have the one small coop, but I've done a plywood partition for the night in the nesting box. Tomorrow I'm gonna head to the hardware and see if I can swap from a plywood partition to a mesh partition, both for ventilation and so that the two other girls can see but not touch the chicks and Bean. I'm a little worried about Bean losing her place in the pecking order entirely if they can't see her at all

Good idea!

 

[CraziChknLady]

If you are able to continue the partition so mama and chicks can be in coop but the others can still see and interact that would be good. You also don't want the other 2 hens to stop going in the coop at night to roost. Keep it as close to normal as possible for the other 2 hens.

The partition will only work for so many weeks. Those chicks will grow! An idea would be to take a small part of the run and put a tiny coop and "more partition. "


I just had a similar situation and winded up using a rabbit hutch for the "coop" and a dog xpen ( metal but still has slots, like an accordion type gate). I put chicken wire on bottom using zip ties, then zip tied one end of the xpen to the run and used the other side as a gate. Had to put chicken wire on bottom as I have bantys and they kept escaping. You could really use anything as a " coop", old dog house, wood crate, etc. The "rabbit hutch I used I had previously bought from Amazon.
I'll try to post links and pics.

Granted it's not a forever home, but perfect for raising some chicks until they get big enough for integration. Also if you have something small set up in ur existing run, you are already starting the introduction/ integration process. It really helps that they can see each other.

 

[CraziChknLady]

Ok so here's some photos. Just keep in mind these are not forever homes and they are on the small side, but for mama and chicks or a recuperating chicken, they work in a pinch. I've used them for chicks, an injured hen or separating out cockerels. They are actually good size for an obnoxious Banty Roo too.
Hopefully this give you some ideas.

 

[CraziChknLady]

Ok more pics. The purple "hutch" is what I got ( as it was open to the ground in the run part) then I attached the chicken run ( looks like it has a roof/ tarp) to one end of the hutch, as it had a door to extend that run. I just used garden stakes to stake it down. OR I've taken the hutch and put a dog xpen around it, using those temp plastic stakes ( like for temp fencing) if I needed it held up. Just ziptie it all together. That can be done beside ur existing run or inside it. Whichever is easiest. Either way part of the existing run can act as a wall or two.

It is some money, but you can always reuse it, separate an injured hen or a multitude of uses. And having an xpen always comes in handy, not just for chickens.

You could also look to see if on Facebook marketplace has an old coop or something similar for ur use. Search terms like chicken coop, dog house, rabbit hutch, as I have found things that work in those categories. Even a kids old playhouse, wooden crate or anything similar.

I know, it's a lot of info. But hopefully something helps you or gets an idea going. So exciting to have a mama hen raise chicks! Nothing is better than having a really good broody mama hen. They are so invaluable!...well I think so..as I don't have any incubators. Good luck!