two broody's and one new chick....do the mama's normally peck at them?

[RIRSNCHICKENJOE]

So i have two broody's and one chick hatched out today...a few more are pecking through. The rir just went broody last week, my white rock has been broody this whole time. So now we have a chick and the rir is pecking at this little chick...is that normal? seems kinda mean.

I have had chicks before...my hens are my chicks (they are our first borns LOL) so what do these babies need, since they are in with roos and other hens. special food? help!!! tia!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm a strong believer in letting a broody raise her chicks with the flock if you have sufficient room and no special issues. It does not work for everyone. I'll give a link that talks about that in a minute. First, it is not that unusual for a broody to try to kill another broody's chicks. That does not mean she is a bad Mama. She is just removing rivals for her chicks, even if her's are not born yet. You need to separate the RIR and the chicks now.

Here's the link I mentioned.

Raise with flock? thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=215937&p=1

 

[RIRSNCHICKENJOE]

I did separate the chicks and mama into a separate "nursery". Some of the eggs have not hatched....how long does it typically take? I had them down to hatch tomorrow..since that would have been 21 days. We were out of town 21 days ago, so I really don't know how long she had been sitting on the eggs...I may be off by 24-48 hours. They are some cute chicks and mama is a good mom! Right now my broody RIR has no eggs... if I put some under her will she leave them in two weeks or will she stay on them until they hatch? TIA!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens cannot read a calendar. Although she has been broody for a week or so, whe will probably stay on the nest long enough to hatch the eggs if you give them to her fairly soon.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! Your broody hen will do what her hormones and instincts tell her to do.
Instinct tells her to sit tight until some of the chicks start making 'hungry noise'. Then she must leave the nest and take the new chicks off the nest to eat (they tell Mom when they are ready for *food* and hungry.). They don't need to eat for some 3 days after hatch (living off the yolk they absorbed just prior to hatching).
You can give the unhatched eggs to the broody RIR (have you candled to see if they are growing?)
Good luck!
Lisa

 

[RIRSNCHICKENJOE]

lets see...I gave the rir some eggs today, new fresh ones!

today is day 21 for all of the eggs...we have had 4 hatch so far....gonna give the others a few days...when I candled them the first time they were all good but that was at about 10 days. Guess it couldn't hurt to candle and see! thanks so much for all of the helpful advice!

 

[ShrekDawg]

yes i think they will be ok, especially noe that she has her own eggs, maybe she wont bother them now? not sure though. good luck and congrats!