Take only chick away from one hen and give to other hen with 4 chicks?

[DanbyTodd]

Hi,

I need some advice as soon as possible.

We had two hens go broody at the same time. We've had problems throughout the incubation period, but I won't give you the whole long story. Suffice to say, we lost 3/4 of the brood. Anyway, the current situation is that one hen has just one chick, and the other hen has four. The chicks are just a couple days old. The hen with only one chick is acting *extremely* aggressive in her protectiveness. I am very concerned that she will kill the other chicks if she has the chance, or fight with the other hen, or both, so I have them separated. Having two hens raising chicks in two different locations, separate from each other and separate from the rest of the flock, is logistically very complicated and making *lots* of extra work for me. I really don't want to do it. I'd like to take the one chick from the one hen and put it with the other four, and put the one hen back with the rest of the flock. I'm confident the hen with the four will accept the new chick (I will do it at night), but I'm not sure how the other hen will handle having her chick taken away. Does anyone have experience with this? Will she be extremely stressed for days or weeks, or will she get over it quickly? I don't want to create more problems than I solve by doing this.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Todd

 

[Eggcessive]

The hen with the 4 chicks may act like she will take in the extra chick, then push it out or try to kill it. I would leave things as they are. I usually put 2 broodies in an extra large dog cage with a divider for a couple of days, then take the divider down when they are mingling without hurting anyone. The hens usually end up co-parenting the chicks, and babysit while the other eats or dustbathes. You just have to spend some time with them for the first day watching them. I'm going through that again today with broodies who only hatched 1 chick apiece.

 

[gabrielle1976]

Let the little one stay with mom. If you brood them in a box you dont want to have only once chick but if they are with a hen they will be ok.

 

[DanbyTodd]

Thanks for your thoughts, Eggcessive. The hen with the four chicks is acting pretty mellow -- not minding much if we pick up her chicks, etc. I could be wrong, but I feel pretty sure she would accept the additional chick. It's really the other hen I'm concerned about -- how she would handle having her chick taken away and being put back with the rest of the flock. Do you have any experience with that scenario?

Thanks again.

 

[DanbyTodd]

Thanks for your input, too, Gabrielle.

I've been reading through one of my reference books. While it doesn't directly address my question, it does advise against putting a chick more than one day old with a new mama hen, suggesting that the chick may not bond to the hen. If I'm not mistaken, that is a "rule" that people sometimes break without having a problem. Still, it does give me pause.

My question of whether the hen would quickly get over having her chick taken away, or whether it would cause her undue or protracted stress, remains.

 

[DanbyTodd]

Thanks again, folks. I've decided to pretty much follow your suggestion, Eggcessive. I've created a large screened-in enclosure (I happened to have a bunch of leftover window screen material to use) inside the coop where the hen with four chicks is, and I've put the other hen and her one chick in the enclosure. After a few days, I'll try letting the hen and her chick out of the enclosure and see how things go. I'm still a little nervous that that hen will be hostile to the other chicks when she's let out, but I'm hoping for the best. I'll let you know how it went.

 

[DanbyTodd]

Update for anyone interested:

The hen with the one chick continued to be insanely aggressive. My intuition was that she would never be able to live peacefully with the other hen and chicks. I spoke with a local farmer I respect (keeps hundreds of free range chickens), and she, without hesitation, advised me to take that one chick and put it with the other hen, and put the problem hen back with the rest of our flock. We did that Saturday night, and there has been no problem whatsoever. The 5 chicks and the "good" mother hen are all happy together, and the problem hen is settled back in with the rest of the flock. She never made a big fuss or anything. She seemed a little forlorn Sunday morning, but no major flip-out or anything, and she is fine now.

I am very relieved. It was a real challenge just getting food and water to the single hen and chick, because she would attack us immediately any time we got near. It would have been a real logistical problem continuing to house her and her chick separately. Life is so much easier now, and everybody is happy.