Mother that is sweet and then mean!! Help

[JensHens]

My sex link hen has been sitting on her eggs. The chicks just hatched today. She stands up for them to go under her and everything. I picked one up to check it's butt, and it peeped really loud. The mother became alert all of a sudden. I was putting the chick back when the mother acted like she was going to peck me, but she didn't, she pecked her chick!!! She is so nice to the others, but when this chick peeps loudly she goes after the chick. What is she doing or what can i do to make her stop if i can.

 

[kstaven]

Keep an eye on the chick. You may end up separating it from mom. Some hens do not readily acccept a chick back once it has been handled by a human.

 

[Grace Boyer]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just keep an eye on it and seperate it if you need to. Check with other members about keeping it warm-if it comes to that- but other than that it's easy to raise it without the mother. Get it back in with other chickens as soon as it's safe for it, though, because when I hand raised my guinea, she thought I was her mother, followed me around, panicked when Iwent out of her sight, and still, at two years old, hasn't figured out that she's not human. Adorable, but I can't spend all my time in her pen as she'd like me to. Actually, she prefers to come in the house. Any way, keep an eye on it, she'll probably accept it back. May want to wait a few days before handling the others, but she'll get less protective as time goes on.