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Psycho Mum

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  • #1

    Psycho Mum

    My CL was a lovely broody, very sweet and gentle, and letting me pick her up off the eggs to get her to eat and drink and poo, and then letting me feed her and her brand new hatchlings by hand for the first day or two...but now that the chicks (Copper Black Marans) are running about, she has reverted to her true psycho self - only more so! I had a fantasy about handling the chicks a lot so that they would grow up nice and tame - but I can't get near them, and if I do they scream blue murder and she flies at me in a rage (so mostly I don't). She even pecks at me when I'm letting them out of the run, or putting their water down, and her idea of being hand-fed is to peck the hand so I drop the food!!!

    Any advice? Should I leave it a few weeks - will she lose interest then? Or will the Maranses be a bit wild if they don't get some early handling? They are 2 weeks old now.
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  • #2
    I'd be horrified if either of our two CLs ever went broody....they're psycho enough without
    (in their defence I think they're just particularly nervous)
    Not got any advice other than reassurance that the hens we bought as POL are now really friendly,so just because they don't get handled from day one doesn't mean they can never be tamed
    GoodLuck with it...get yourself some gloves
    the fates lead him who will;him who won't they drag.

    Happiness is not having what you want,but wanting what you have.xx

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    • #3
      One of my best broodies is a psycho mum! She is currently raising a psycho chick! They now both go barmy when I approach the coop. Like yours she starts off sweet natured and gentle and I can do anything with her when she is on the eggs, but once the chicks are hatched her protective hormones kick in.

      Not a lot you can do until mum leaves the chicks of her own accord and then you can start taming them by hand feeding etc. It's a good thing really as it shows she is really protective of them but a pain in the neck (or hand) if you want to get up close to them. Once they are about 6 weeks or so she will be less protective of them as her hormones settle down and she comes into lay and then she will start behaving like a normal hen again.

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      • #4
        Yup, my Welsummer broody/mum is a Psycho Mum too....

        Even doing food and water makes me a threat, and it's quite amusing to see her hurtling at me, or trying to herd her 5 week old 'babies' under her wings...

        She is getting slightly better though. As above, I'm hoping that once she comes back into lay and the babies get older I can seperate them, and then start to handle the babies more.

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        • #5
          Hmmm...yes, on reflection I think I was being a bit daft and impatient - just because I feel like the co-parent doesn't man the chook-family will see things that way!! After a long cuddle with Nancy, (the friendly CL) who snoozed in my arms, I felt a bit less of a chicken hate-figure in general!

          Then tonight I fed the cheepers and Psycho by sitting on the ground and holding the treats out in my hand. Mum did deploy the "peck hard and she'll drop it" tactic a couple of times, but by the end they were all eating out of my hand - and a couple of the little cheepers even climbed into my hand

          That's what I'll do in future - take my time and be patient - and maybe they'll all get a bit more tame that way, Mum included.

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