One of my flock grabbed at a chick

[McChooky]

"I'll be honest, I don't really know what to do for future strategies here"

I let my broody hen hatch chicks because she's a big girl and can hold her own. She allowed no harm to come to them and was aware of danger at all times-from predators and other flockmates.I wouldn't let this broody hen hatch chicks again since she isn't making any effort to protect them.In my opinion her and the chicks need to be moved to a separate coop and run so no harm comes to any of the chicks provided she is still keeping them warm and watching over them. Once they are old enough to run and hide you can always try to reintroduce them.

 

[McChooky]

Chicks are 2 weeks old now. Today we very carefully tried integration. For the most part, Paprika is good, mostly she ignores the chicks or pecks where they are pecking, although she did get one peck in.

Splurt on the other hand is still incredibly strange. She stares at the chicks, follows them very intently and doggedly, and tries to grab and peck at them. She's not super rough (no chicks are injured), but she is very consistent and simply will not stop doing this. She acts almost scared and startled by the chicks at times, and I believe is pecking them curiously. She responds to chick distress noises like a flock member needs help. I honestly have no idea what's going on in her head.

Bean, the chicks mama, only charged at Splurt for one of the several pecks, and mostly just completely ignores the fact that her chicks are being followed and pecked at. Bean is far too docile, despite being a bully while she was broody.

I'll be honest, I don't really know what to do for future strategies here. Bean always wants out with the flock and her babies, but Bean does not protect her chicks from the other hens, she doesn't even seem to notice it's happening. I don't know what age is ideal to integrate, obviously the sooner the better but safety also must be first.

I have a big black Australorp who's food aggressive and refuses to let any of my other hens eat with her. She was also the most aggressive hen to my chicks but they learned fast to avoid her. My broody yanked a mouthful of feathers out of her a couple times to protect her chicks. The worst fights were the first 2 weeks

 

[BeanieBabies]

"I'll be honest, I don't really know what to do for future strategies here"

I let my broody hen hatch chicks because she's a big girl and can hold her own. She allowed no harm to come to them and was aware of danger at all times-from predators and other flockmates.I wouldn't let this broody hen hatch chicks again since she isn't making any effort to protect them.In my opinion her and the chicks need to be moved to a separate coop and run so no harm comes to any of the chicks provided she is still keeping them warm and watching over them. Once they are old enough to run and hide you can always try to reintroduce them.

Other than not protecting them, or like, not noticing that they're being pecked at?, she's been really really good at mothering. She makes sure they always know where food and water are, keeps them warm, keeps them with her, chases off every other bird that comes near, its just against the other hens she has issues, and she did charge one time.

There is the possibility that the chicks just aren't actually making an 'I'm being hurt' noise. They peep with more distress when I pick one up because they're trapped behind the door than they did being pecked at by one of the hens. Or, really, by the one hen, because Paprika only pecked when she was trapped in a small space with one of them.

Her raising more chicks isn't going to happen, even if I wanted to, I am in a suburban backyard. This will be max chicken capacity.

Another coop is not an option. I do not have the space for it, and I think that taking Bean and the chicks out of 24/7 view of the other girls is a really bad idea.

I'll try opening the door again at 4 weeks.

 

[BeanieBabies]

I don't know if this is relevant, but Splurt is not actually laying yet. She's about 8 and a half months old now, she's always been butch but never crowed and is hen feathered, she's a black star sex-link and I got her as a sexed chick from a Boylans, and she has yet to lay an egg.

 

[McChooky]

Other than not protecting them, or like, not noticing that they're being pecked at?, she's been really really good at mothering. She makes sure they always know where food and water are, keeps them warm, keeps them with her, chases off every other bird that comes near, its just against the other hens she has issues, and she did charge one time.

There is the possibility that the chicks just aren't actually making an 'I'm being hurt' noise. They peep with more distress when I pick one up because they're trapped behind the door than they did being pecked at by one of the hens. Or, really, by the one hen, because Paprika only pecked when she was trapped in a small space with one of them.

Her raising more chicks isn't going to happen, even if I wanted to, I am in a suburban backyard. This will be max chicken capacity.

Another coop is not an option. I do not have the space for it, and I think that taking Bean and the chicks out of 24/7 view of the other girls is a really bad idea.

I'll try opening the door again at 4 weeks.

A ' Divided ' section serves the same purpose .Some hens will kill other hens baby chicks and your hen is no exception.

 

[McChooky]

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!

1.Chickens are territorial .They attack new chickens is why we have to integrate them slowly
2.For as long as it takes to accept them and not hurt them
3.'Pretty quickly' can take weeks but it may take longer in your case because your broody hen is making no effort to protect them.
4.Your momma hen doesn't have good parenting skills and/or lacks the natural instinct to protect them.In my opinion she wasn't mature enough to raise chicks.She's only 8 mo old

 

[McChooky]

Rhode island reds have a reputation for being aggressive to other chickens especially chickens lower in the pecking order( young chicks and old chickens) Being that Black star sex links are a cross between Rhode island red roosters and barred rock hens it can be challenging to integrate new chickens into the flock(they're territorial)

 

[BDutch]

I didn’t read the whole thread. But space an territory are probably 2 important issues here.

If you want to raise chicks, you need to way more space than minimal requirements, and be able to arrange the space in a way the hens that aren’t broody are not disturbed too much in their usual habits.
This means the non-broodies need to have access to their usual roost space and you need to make a second feed and water station for the chicks elsewhere.

A strategy that works great for most chicken keepers: put the broody with her chicks in a separate coop with attached run to start with. Prefabs are often good for this. If the chicks are a bit stronger and can get away from the non-broodies the momma hen should be able to do the rest.

Btw, you were lucky your broody Bean accepted a few days old chicks. Not all broodies do.

My space is limited too, but I let the broody and chicks mingle with the flock after 1-2 weeks. Never had problems. Keep in mind some less tolerant breeds or individuals can cause more problems. Always watch what happens if you integrate (you did a good job in this).

PS a peck on the head is a way of communicating. The ones who are higher in rank always do this if food is involved and the younger ones try to grab feed before its their turn.

 

[BeanieBabies]

Hmmm, okay so Paprika is definitely being very normal and just communicating with the chicks.

It's just Splurt who is being, I suppose very territorial? She is certainly chasing after the chicks and pecking at them, she isn't acting what I would call aggressive, despite pecking at their bodies, in fact the chicks moving towards her seems to startle her. Perhaps they're still too novel for her.

Oh, the chicks were 1 day old, but there were 4 of them. I kept my ear out for a long time when placing the chicks that night to ensure everything went well. Bean took to them like a charm, it was so cute to see, she was cooing to them within 10min.

They all sleep in the same coop, with the girls on their usual roosting bar and Bean off to the side behind a divider (I took the separators out of the nesting box section so that its really long for her). In the day, Paprika and Splurt are roaming their big enclosure (almost my whole yard), and Bean gets the prefab run to herself and her babies. Paprika lays her eggs in the coop, I close the front and open the back in the mornings so that she can do this easily. They each have 2 water bowls (it gets really hot here) and a food station.