Too young for mom to leave chick?

[Leonard4]

Hi! I bought a fertilized egg for my broody hen to hatch. The chick hatched 4 weeks ago and everything has been going great.

Last night however, mama hen left the baby in the coop and went up to the higher perch to roost. Baby Juniper seemed distressed. She ended up perching next to another hen. Is she (I’m trying to manifest her being a pullet) too young for mom to move on? Is there anything I should do?

 

[janiedoe]

Hi! I bought a fertilized egg for my broody hen to hatch. The chick hatched 4 weeks ago and everything has been going great.

Last night however, mama hen left the baby in the coop and went up to the higher perch to roost. Baby Juniper seemed distressed. She ended up perching next to another hen. Is she (I’m trying to manifest her being a pullet) too young for mom to move on? Is there anything I should do?

It happens. Especially in warm weather. I've had a hen leave a chick at 3 weeks. The chick was lonely. It did integrate with the flock, though. The same as yours, it ended up perching with another hen.
It is a little rough for a single chick. Mine was a male, so he ended up with a new flock. If I ever have another single hatch, I'll run out and buy some feed store pullets. I'm so soft, I hate seeing a lonely bird.

 

[NatJ]

If the mother is ready to move on, there isn't a whole lot you an do.

At 4 weeks, the chick probably has most of its feathers.
Since you're near Chicago and it's August, the weather is probably warm enough that the chick does not need extra heat at this time, even at night.

So unless the other hens bully the chick, it will probably be fine. It might be lonely, and distressed by the change, but that would happen at any age.

If you have a broody hen in future, you might consider giving her several eggs to hatch, so there will be several chicks to keep each other company, rather than just one lonesome chick. But it's obviously too late to change that this time.

 

[Cackel Shack]

Hi! I bought a fertilized egg for my broody hen to hatch. The chick hatched 4 weeks ago and everything has been going great.

Last night however, mama hen left the baby in the coop and went up to the higher perch to roost. Baby Juniper seemed distressed. She ended up perching next to another hen. Is she (I’m trying to manifest her being a pullet) too young for mom to move on? Is there anything I should do?

I had 2 Spotted Sussex who both hatched chicks and they began to show disinterest in their babies around 4 weeks too. I was pretty shocked! Fortunately, I also had 2 very motherly Barred Rock Cochin hens who quickly adopted these chicks and watched over them until they were 6 weeks old and fully feathered. Some chicken breeds are more maternal for longer.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

My broody hatched chicks 5 weeks ago, she still Mother's them during the day but for the last week at night she roosts with the rest of the flock and they sleep in the corner nest she made on the floor. It's all part of it

 

[Leonard4]

If the mother is ready to move on, there isn't a whole lot you an do.

At 4 weeks, the chick probably has most of its feathers.
Since you're near Chicago and it's August, the weather is probably warm enough that the chick does not need extra heat at this time, even at night.

So unless the other hens bully the chick, it will probably be fine. It might be lonely, and distressed by the change, but that would happen at any age.

If you have a broody hen in future, you might consider giving her several eggs to hatch, so there will be several chicks to keep each other company, rather than just one lonesome chick. But it's obviously too late to change that this time.

That was my plan, and I did buy two eggs, but only one hatched. The other was still just a yolk, so it either wasn't really fertilized or never developed. I was disappointed!

 

[Leonard4]

Thank you all for your help! This is my first time trying this. She managed to get up the higher perch with mom last night, so I'm sure she'll be ok.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

She'll be okay. One of the other birds might become an Auntie (a broody acting hen that didn't hatch the chick in question), but if not, it's not the end of the world. Most of my pheonixes wean at 3-5 weeks. Some a lot later, but those are the exception