Once the chicks hatch should we move the hens and chicks to a new coop and run or can they be left with the rest of the flock?
There is no one right way to do this. We do it all kinds of different ways. Hens have been hatching and raising chicks with the flock ever since there have been chickens. People have been isolating hens while they hatch and/or raise chicks for a long time. There are advantages and risks each way. Sometimes your facilities or flock may make one way better than another. We are all unique. And you are dealing with living animals. Different animals will react differently.
How tight your facilities are can make a difference. A broody hen needs a little room to work but the big need for room comes after she weans them and leaves them on their own with the flock. I’ve had hens wean their chicks at three weeks, leaving them totally alone to make their own way with the flock. I’ve had some not wean them until after two months. She had already integrated them into the flock but they have to handle the pecking order. Young chicks rank at the bottom of the pecking order until they mature enough to force their way into the flock pecking order. They handle this by forming a separate sub-flock and avoiding the adults as much as they can. Having enough room to avoid the adults is important. If your space is too tight for this, you are very likely to have integration issues later if you separate them. If you separate them you will have to handle integration your own, maybe with the hen when she weans them as well as with the chicks when they are grown enough.
I’ve never had a mature rooster even threaten to harm a chick. I have had mature roosters (not all but some) help Mama take care of the chicks. If the rooster is introduced to the chicks while they are still young he normally sees them as his offspring and wants to protect them. If you wait until they are big enough for him to see them as rivals you may have issues with a rooster.
It is pretty rare for one of my adult hens to go out of their way to bother a chick. If the chick invades the personal space of another hen she might or might not peck the chick to remind it that it is bad chicken etiquette for that chick to bother its betters. If she does peck it that chick runs back to Mama and life is good. But occasionally a hen will actually try to harm the chick or chase it. That’s when Mama goes into protective mode. She promptly whips butt. Nobody hurts her chicks. I’ve never lost a chick to another adult flock member as long as the broody can get there to protect the chick. This brings up a very important point. If you decide to isolate the hen and chicks, make very sure the chicks cannot escape and join the rest of the flock when Mama can’t be there to protect them. Very young chicks are in danger from the other hens or other immature pullets or cockerels if they are older than the chicks.
I’ve seen a hen get her chicks out of a 10’ high hay loft. Mama said jump and they did, then they bounced up and ran to her. The height of your nests does not bother me at all. One potential issue is if a chick falls out it can’t get back up. With the size of your milk crates and the way it is set up I don’t see a problem with that. If your nests were smaller where the hen was sitting next to the edge I would be concerned. The chicks that hatch first often climb up on Mama’s back while she is hatching the later ones. If she is real close to the edge they might miss the nest on the way down. I don’t see that happening with your nests even without the curtains.
Occasionally I will move a broody hen and her chicks to another coop, usually because my main coop is pretty full. I wait until the broody hen brings her chicks off the nest then move them and isolate them in there for two nights. After that I turn them loose with the flock. The broody hen will take them back to that smaller coop to sleep after that. If I leave her alone instead when she brings them off the nest she does not return to the nest but instead takes her chicks to a corner of the coop and keeps them on the floor overnight.
One word of warning. Really young chicks like to crawl up under Mama’s wings or hide in her feathers. If you pick a broody hen up, be very careful to not crush a chick hiding like that. I learned the hard way.
I have a lot of room and like my hens to handle basic integration for me. Others isolate their broodies and chicks for their own reasons. There is nothing wrong with that, just a different way to do things.
Also we have 4 Silkies can these be integrated into our flock of Chanticlairs or should they be kept separate?
Many people have no problems at all integrating Silkies into their flocks, other people have problems. Some of that depends on the personality of your individual chickens, some on how much room you have, and some on your techniques. In general any integration goes better if you have lots of room, feed and water in separate places so they don’t have to compete for food and water, and you house them side by side for a while so they get used to each other. That lots of room doesn’t just mean coop and run space but roost space. Silkies cannot fly so you may have nest height and roost height issues with them.
We were told to but eggs into the nesting boxes to promote brooding but so far they don't seem to be interested in sitting on a nest,
I’ve tried that a few times. Once I got a broody hen but she went broody in a different nest. I don’t think that counts. So it has always been unsuccessful with me.
in fact we have had them for 2 months and they were 9 months old when we got them and they have only laid 3 eggs to date...is this normal?
Yes and no. Are they hiding a nest? Other than the molt that’s the biggest reason hens that should be laying aren’t. Are they molting. Sometimes the stress of a move can trigger a molt. Stress of a move or other stress can temporarily stop them from laying. After two months yours should be over that. But how were they laying before you got them? Silkies are not known to be great layers. They may be waiting on the weather changing to really start, especially at that age.
You will find that with chickens there are no hard and fast answers to practically anything. There are always exceptions to what anybody says or sees. The best we can do is tell you things we’ve seen and things we would expect most chickens to do. Good luck!
