Broody Silkie successfully hatched her first chicks

[Onechicktwochickthree]

So in 2020 I posted regarding a silkie I had witness lay her first ever egg (I incubated the white Silkie and she is still my baby!)

She got very broody recently for over a month and would not stop sitting on my other chickens eggs - she stopped laying- the usual. We removed the eggs as soon as we saw them but it didn’t help.

In the end I gave her 6 Serama eggs to incubate and a day later than expected she has successfully hatched 3 (2 I saw this morning and the 3rd hatched within an hour of this time) she has 3 left which we are waiting on she is such a good mama- and she is currently housed with 3 large chickens she lives with them usually with no issues but they do occasionally bully her and chase her from food so I have a question.
Or 3

These large chickens are friendly and they do not seem interested in the babies that have not left the nest box yet- and the babies hatched while they were all locked up together… should I be worried of them bullying or harming them? Would I be better off just leaving them with adoptive mother and the large chickens or would I be better off for their safety putting mummy and babies in their own small coop and small run (for when they are old enough to go outside)

They will be housed next to each other so they can still see each other but in separate runs.

My concern is for their safety as we have tried for over a year to incubate eggs and keep having poor results, I have 26 still unhatched that were due the same day as these babies my girl sat on (yesterday) and no sign at all yet of anything happening. I am trying to get a few small females so I can house my small silkie with company her size instead of leaving her all the time with the large ones - they either don’t hatch or end up males and my concerns are. I separate her and the chicks and they all end up being male she will end up on her own or having to go back with the other females and I am worried they may not want to. Accept her back if I remove her.

Not sure what to do and of course this is mommas first time with babies- we always incubate we never breed as we can’t have males and this is the first time I’ve had a broody hen sit on eggs.

I also had to share photos- it was a very eggciting morning this morning!

This is Twinkle-Toes- my little princess, and her little Twinkle babies!


It’s been a long time since I was here, thank you in advance for any suggestions or advice you can give- I appreciate it.

 

[nchls school]

Put mom and chicks in the pen where they can be seen by the flock and vise versa. Serama chicks are small and easily damaged. Leaving them with large birds will result in the chick's death. Just having a large hen step on them would likely cause the chicks harm.

I keep all new serama chicks in the house for at least a week; usually longer.

 

[Onechicktwochickthree]

Put mom and chicks in the pen where they can be seen by the flock and vise versa. Serama chicks are small and easily damaged. Leaving them with large birds will result in the chick's death. Just having a large hen step on them would likely cause the chicks harm.

I keep all new serama chicks in the house for at least a week; usually longer.

Thank you. I did move momma and babies and the two remaining unhatched eggs to a separate pen, got a little worried for a while as she was keeping the chicks warm but had abandoned the eggs at first- hoping she sits on them now she is settled a little in the new pen. She can hear the same usual noises and the big birds can hear her but she’s currently not leaving the nest even to eat at the moment so I’m placing food and water with her daily- she doesn’t want to leave her babies.

 

[Stellasmomma]

How fun! I too let my little silkie hen hatch some eggs this spring and wow she is the best momma! I wanted more silkies as she was our only one, so I purchased fertile silkie eggs for her. I kept her separated for about 6 weeks as I was also worried she lives with bigger hens as well. Keeping them separated worked really well and they all integrated into the flock without any issue. I did keep her pen where the others could still see her in the babies

 

[Poodlemum]

Awwww, so precious!

 

[Onechicktwochickthree]

Update, and a not so happy one. Momma accidentally killed the yellow baby- but the darker two are doing well and thriving! I can’t fault her she’s a first time mum, and baby was the same colour as the bedding.

Since separating her from my other 3 large hens - her friend and guardian has become sick. this will be another post as I am worried sick about this girl.

I’ll keep updating with momma and babies whenever there is anything to update and thank you so much for replying here.

 

[Onechicktwochickthree]

Beautiful if I do say so myself curious as to why one is very silly and fluffy and nothing like any other serama I have ever encountered but thankfully both are female- so it’s a win win.