Pinless Peepers for Jealous Broody - Need Reassurance.

[mrsmistoffelees02]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been allowing my broody to raise 3 chicks for the last 6 weeks. She has been in a crate in the coop with the babies, and it’s worked pretty well but the babies are feathered now and mama is restless and ready to get out and back into the run (and I’m ready to get the crate out of the coop).

Only problem is, the mama’s sister is so jealous of the babies, she immediately attacks mama and tries to parent the chicks whenever I let them out of the crate. This makes squabbles that puts the babies at risk of getting stepped on.

I bought Pinless peepers to solve this problem, but when my husband and I tried to put them on the offender with pliers, she was so upset we couldn’t even get them on. The prongs seem so hard, it slightly damaged her beak to the point of it bleeding because we couldn’t get them in her nostrils. Even my husband, born and raised farm boy, was concerned it was hurting her. I just don’t understand how this doesn’t cause pain, I haven’t heard of anyone else having such bad issues with it. Although, if this is the best option to keep mama hen safe, I can make it happen. Just need some reassurance.

 

[azygous]

Pinless peepers have their shortcomings. They can cause injury especially when injury occurs when installing them. It's best to leave them off until the nares heal or scar tissue can grow and close off the nares, creating a chronic breathing problem.

I'm not sure peepers would solve the problem. Six week-old chicks are ready to be weaned. If the broody and her sister have issues, I would be inclined to permit the two to work things out between them. At six weeks, chicks are entirely capable of keeping out of harms way.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I keep my broodies separated for two to three months with their babies. This I do with them in a separate coop though. If the mother broody is done with her chicks and the other wants to take over, separate the sister with the chicks until she's done. If not, just separate the sister by herself until the chicks are older. If you can separate one, I don't think that the Pinless Peepers are necessary. Also, if the sister is a problem, other flock members can become a problem as well.


As far as the Pinless Peepers, how are you putting them on? Are you using pliers? And if so, do they have the right attachment? Are you holding the Peepers correctly with them? Are you wrapping the hen up so she can't move while you're putting them on? How are you holding her head when you put them on her face? I highly recommend doing a practice run on a stuffed toy chicken that isn't going to move before doing it on a real chicken. That way you are familiar with how everything works before you try putting it on something that is alive.

 

[Shadrach]

Yet another case of auntie knows best.
At six weeks old the chicks are not likely to be under the mothers care for much longer. As mentioned above, they are also old enough to avoid the squabbling adults.
I would be inclined to let them sort it out. If auntie looks after the chicks once mum has finished with them then so be it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

if this is the best option to keep mama hen safe, I can make it happen. Just need some reassurance.

I think there are better options. It sounds like your area may be tight. Knowing what area and facilities you have to work with could help with the suggestions.

My first thought is to let them out and see what happens. At 6 weeks old the chicks should be able to stay out of the way. There is a fair chance the hens won't fight. Either the hen no longer wants to take care of her chicks (especially when you say the hen is restless) or the other may no longer be interested in the chicks.

Let the hen out but leave the chicks behind for now. See what happens. The hens may not fight. The first hen may ignore the chicks. I don't know. I've had broody hens raise their chicks with the flock from Day 1 and wean them anywhere from 3 weeks to over 2 months of age. Those chicks were able to make their way with the flock. By leaving them locked up you did not allow your broody to integrate the chicks for you. Lots of people do it that way, I'm not criticizing, but that means integration is on you. By raising them in that crate with the flock it's possible integration will be easy, just turn them loose after you see what happens with the hens. It's possible that hen will still take care of them for a bit. Lots of things could happen, some of them quite good, but you'll never know until you try.

You can let the hen and chicks out and lock that other hen in the crate for a week or so. It's what I'd do if she wants to fight. I think that's very likely to take care of things.

 

[mrsmistoffelees02]

I think there are better options. It sounds like your area may be tight. Knowing what area and facilities you have to work with could help with the suggestions.

My first thought is to let them out and see what happens. At 6 weeks old the chicks should be able to stay out of the way. There is a fair chance the hens won't fight. Either the hen no longer wants to take care of her chicks (especially when you say the hen is restless) or the other may no longer be interested in the chicks.

Let the hen out but leave the chicks behind for now. See what happens. The hens may not fight. The first hen may ignore the chicks. I don't know. I've had broody hens raise their chicks with the flock from Day 1 and wean them anywhere from 3 weeks to over 2 months of age. Those chicks were able to make their way with the flock. By leaving them locked up you did not allow your broody to integrate the chicks for you. Lots of people do it that way, I'm not criticizing, but that means integration is on you. By raising them in that crate with the flock it's possible integration will be easy, just turn them loose after you see what happens with the hens. It's possible that hen will still take care of them for a bit. Lots of things could happen, some of them quite good, but you'll never know until you try.

You can let the hen and chicks out and lock that other hen in the crate for a week or so. It's what I'd do if she wants to fight. I think that's very likely to take care of things.

My coop is 40 sq. ft., my run is 160 sq. ft.

I did try letting everyone out this past weekend to see what would happen, and there was definitely a squabble between hens. I was worried blood would be drawn again (by the aunt to the mom, so I separated auntie and left mom and babies in the flock, but mom was being protective and kept chasing everyone out of the coop so I put them in the crate instead) so I separated them.

Maybe this next time I’ll let them duke it out (under supervision) instead of the peepers - they are both good parents to the babies, they just don’t work well together. The mama in the crate is restless because I think she’s ready to get back to the run, she still acts interested in babies and will chirp to them when she finds food/hold her wings out for them to cuddle up at night. Auntie will only sleep on top of the crate where the babies are.

If things get too far, I’ll put auntie in the crate. Hopefully mom is less protective now and will share the food and water resources in the coop with the other hens.

It’s just funny because this is between my #1 and #2 alpha hen. The momma is #2 in pecking order so I don’t have to worry about her being bullied by others, but auntie is head hen. Raising the chicks was easy, but I wasn’t expecting the dynamic shift. This is definitely a learning process.

 

[mrsmistoffelees02]

Yet another case of auntie knows best.
At six weeks old the chicks are not likely to be under the mothers care for much longer. As mentioned above, they are also old enough to avoid the squabbling adults.
I would be inclined to let them sort it out. If auntie looks after the chicks once mum has finished with them then so be it.

I think I’m going to try this and just supervise... If it gets worse I’ll crate auntie. I just don’t know at what point to let them work it out Vs when I should intervene. Don’t want to see any blood drawn that’s for sure!

 

[mrsmistoffelees02]

I keep my broodies separated for two to three months with their babies. This I do with them in a separate coop though. If the mother broody is done with her chicks and the other wants to take over, separate the sister with the chicks until she's done. If not, just separate the sister by herself until the chicks are older. If you can separate one, I don't think that the Pinless Peepers are necessary. Also, if the sister is a problem, other flock members can become a problem as well.


As far as the Pinless Peepers, how are you putting them on? Are you using pliers? And if so, do they have the right attachment? Are you holding the Peepers correctly with them? Are you wrapping the hen up so she can't move while you're putting them on? How are you holding her head when you put them on her face? I highly recommend doing a practice run on a stuffed toy chicken that isn't going to move before doing it on a real chicken. That way you are familiar with how everything works before you try putting it on something that is alive.

Going to see how they all do and separate auntie if things get rough. I’d like to avoid the peepers if necessary.

My husband and I tried putting on the peepers with the included pliers that came with the pack after soaking them in hot water for several minutes. I watched a few YouTube videos and read some articles to get familiar with how to do it, and yes, she was wrapped with a towel so she wouldn’t move... Didn’t work though because she would jerk her head away when we were trying to align the prongs with her nostrils. Hopefully we can avoid that again.

 

[azygous]

I've perfected installing peepers over two decades. The secret is to leave a towel flap near her head as you wrap her up in the towel. When you have the peepers and snap-ring pliers set out, fold a corner of the towel over the top of the hen's head and secure it over her eyes and hold in place with your free hand.

This blocks her vision and she won't jerk as the pliers come near her eyes. Position the peepers over the nares and release the tension on them, allowing the prongs to slip into the nares. If one prong isn't quite in, keep the flap over her eyes as you use the pliers to position the prong to slip into the nare.

 

[aart]

IME broodies always get into fights when reunited with the flock.
I just let them work it out....but I have more space.