Hi all,
recently I have had some hens go broody in my coop. once one started hatching chicks, i caged her box off so she could see out, but the chicks couldnt get out. i put in a chick feeder with medicated feed and a small water device. all of a sudden, i started finding chicks in the yard. they are coming from underneath the coop, from another mama. to keep them separate from the flock and to get them their medicated food, i moved the undercoop chicks inside with the others, in the caged off area. a few died. one i put in there this morning is getting picked on bad from the mama, is this normal? there are 10 chicks total, anywhere from a couple days to a week old.
she wouldnt stop pecking the one, to the point her and i got into it (i would wave my hand at her and tap her when she pecked at her). only thing i can think of, is i handled the chick when picking her up and moving her. would my smell on the chick cause this reaction?
any suggestions? i am about to find another mama for her (i have a few broody, i could cage off a second area and move some).
recently I have had some hens go broody in my coop. once one started hatching chicks, i caged her box off so she could see out, but the chicks couldnt get out. i put in a chick feeder with medicated feed and a small water device. all of a sudden, i started finding chicks in the yard. they are coming from underneath the coop, from another mama. to keep them separate from the flock and to get them their medicated food, i moved the undercoop chicks inside with the others, in the caged off area. a few died. one i put in there this morning is getting picked on bad from the mama, is this normal? there are 10 chicks total, anywhere from a couple days to a week old.
she wouldnt stop pecking the one, to the point her and i got into it (i would wave my hand at her and tap her when she pecked at her). only thing i can think of, is i handled the chick when picking her up and moving her. would my smell on the chick cause this reaction?
any suggestions? i am about to find another mama for her (i have a few broody, i could cage off a second area and move some).
