1 chick w broody - ok to let nature do its thing?

[kristashine]

we do not have a rooster but had 2 hens get super broody so a friend gave us 3 fertilized eggs to see what happens.
1 egg hatched yesterday and our little black banty couldnt be happier.

our hens have a nice sized coop but we leave them to free range.
is this ok for the chick?
should we put the banty and her babe in a separate enclosure for a while?
anything we need to do special?

any advice would be welcome :O) cheers

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

separate. Safer for baby, and less stressful for mama.

 

[BeccaB00]

Yes I would seperate them from the other chickens. Just a couple weeks ago we learned that the hard way. be safe

 

[SpringChickens]

It's up to you. We've always let our mommas free range with their babies unless there were complications. We never had any problem with the other hens; the momma will do a good job chasing the others off.

 

[pgpoultry]

We have been able to integrate day old chicks with full grown Brahma roosters as they accept chicks and even protect them, BUT some hens and even more roosters will try to kill chicks.

If you are letting chicks out with adult birds then you must monitor the situation very closely,

Sandie

 

[Ridgerunner]

Here is another active thread on the same topic. My opinion is in this thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=375295

 

[BHyder1]

I just went through the same thing, only 2 broodys with chicks. 8 hatched and the 2 hens fought over who had rights to the babies. They now have seperated them, but I lost 3 in the process. They are free range since they turned 1 week. all is well now and they follow their chosen mothers!