Broody and chicks question

My bantam sebright hatched out 2 chicks a little over 3 weeks ago. The first week they were in a little pen in the chicken coop, the second week in a little pen in the barn, and the past couple days they have been back in the coop-pen. (I had to dust for mites in the coop and didn't want the chicks exposed when they were so young.) This morning, I found the mama and chicks OUT of the pen and my BO IN the pen...That confused me for a minute! I found a small hole in the pen. (Still not sure how my big fluffy orpington got through it! ) The other chickens seemed to be leaving the chicks alone, so I let them mingle. I fixed the hole and put them back in when I let the others out to free range though, because I think my cats might be a little to..."playful" with little bitty chicks. Broody seemed really happy to have more space and to be able to take her babies out into the run and the sunshine. The chicks can't get to the big-girl feed. (They should have layer feed anyway, right?) I put a couple little dishes of chick feed around the coop in places that the big girls can't get to and I put a waterer where mama and chicks can have access to it. Does it sound like a good/safe setup for the chicks? Mama is a tough little bugger....she wouldn't let anyone near them! but 40 other chickens is a lot to fed off. Do you think it's dangerous to have the chicks with the big chickens?

I have around 62 chickens at the time and my Sebright momma has just one chick. But she is a fighter! She defends that baby with all she is worth! However, chicks should not eat layer food until 18 weeks or older, so make sure it stays out if their reach. Make sure they can't get trapped or drown anywhere.

My momma loves being out to show her chick around, so best of luck!

I've never lost a broody-raised chick to another bird. It's not like all your birds are going to gang up on momma and babies, she'll be fine.

Barn cats, on the other hand....

Not terribly experienced but I've kept my kochen mama with her bitties locked seperate from flock (80 birds approx). She has 13 babies. My mama is very protective too, so if she had only 1-2 I might would allow them to mingle in small time slots. Best wishes

Thank you everybody! Donrae - I've never had a problem with my barn cats because my bantam sebrights chase my cats...my cats are now scared of most of the chickens. But, a new addition is still very kitten like and doesn't have enough respect for the chickens yet - I'm just waiting for him to get TOO playful with one and see all the others hound him.

Chicks Galore3 said:

Thank you everybody! Donrae - I've never had a problem with my barn cats because my bantam sebrights chase my cats...my cats are now scared of most of the chickens.

But, a new addition is still very kitten like and doesn't have enough respect for the chickens yet - I'm just waiting for him to get TOO playful with one and see all the others hound him.

Click to expand...

My sebright chases the cats too!