I have two hens that hatched out 12 chicks 
this past Sunday and Monday, the first time they brought their chicks out into the yard we/they somehow managed to lose 3 chicks 
that we found dead a day or two later, so yesterday we decided to leave the hens and chicks 'locked' up in their pen.. Everything was fine for a good majority of the day then when we came to check on them before it got Dark last night we found one of the chicks dying, now I understand not every chick will survive, but this one seemed to have a broken neck, laid out on its back attempting to cheep and flap it's wings.. I wouldn't have been so sad about it, but this was the only Yellow chick we had, which my 4 year old son chose as his and named Popcorn. ( RIP Popcorn ) Now my real question is, because we seem to be losing them, and this last one had a broken neck, should I try to take the chicks away? I'm concerned though because one of our hens is very motherly, finds them worms and shows them where the ants are and just tries to teach them the basics, but our other hen is younger and not so motherly, she steals stuff from the chicks an kicks them around while she's scratching and bathing.. My head tells me she could be the reason for Popcorns sudden demise, but I can't tell you for sure.. I just wanna know if we'd all be better off removing the chicks and raising them seperatly? This is our first set of chicks, and we've all been enjoying the cuteness of the process but we've already lost for whatever reason 1/3 of our little group.. And we fear losing more.. Let me know your thoughts, give me your advice.. Oh and a side question, of we do decide to remove the chicks from the main pen, would that cause the hens to lay eggs again sooner?
-Newcome Looking for Advice-
-Thank You-
-Katie-
this past Sunday and Monday, the first time they brought their chicks out into the yard we/they somehow managed to lose 3 chicks that we found dead a day or two later, so yesterday we decided to leave the hens and chicks 'locked' up in their pen.. Everything was fine for a good majority of the day then when we came to check on them before it got Dark last night we found one of the chicks dying, now I understand not every chick will survive, but this one seemed to have a broken neck, laid out on its back attempting to cheep and flap it's wings.. I wouldn't have been so sad about it, but this was the only Yellow chick we had, which my 4 year old son chose as his and named Popcorn. ( RIP Popcorn ) Now my real question is, because we seem to be losing them, and this last one had a broken neck, should I try to take the chicks away? I'm concerned though because one of our hens is very motherly, finds them worms and shows them where the ants are and just tries to teach them the basics, but our other hen is younger and not so motherly, she steals stuff from the chicks an kicks them around while she's scratching and bathing.. My head tells me she could be the reason for Popcorns sudden demise, but I can't tell you for sure.. I just wanna know if we'd all be better off removing the chicks and raising them seperatly? This is our first set of chicks, and we've all been enjoying the cuteness of the process but we've already lost for whatever reason 1/3 of our little group.. And we fear losing more.. Let me know your thoughts, give me your advice.. Oh and a side question, of we do decide to remove the chicks from the main pen, would that cause the hens to lay eggs again sooner? -Newcome Looking for Advice-
-Thank You-
-Katie-
