broody hen

[Sunny Side Up]

The younger the chick the better chance of getting them & the hen to bond with each other. The hen needs to respond to the chicks' cheeps and the chicks need to be responsive to the hen's clucks. Once they get started on their own they're like kids at boarding school, less likely to listen to authority.

 

[ChickyChickens]

If your chicks are in a coop then you should separate the hen with her chicks because she can't run away from the other hens! But if you free range(like I do) then you don't really have to worry because the hen can run away, hide etc. leaving the hen with the flock if you free range helps because then later on when the chicks are older and you introduce them to the flock there might be fighting because of the pecking order!!!