Buff Orpington with (8) 1-Week Old Chicks

[Legend17]

I have two devoted broody hens who are just over a year old and this is their first time going broody. I decided to order a mixture of fertilized eggs and see if they would hatch. I built them both separate broody pens with plenty of space for their nest, pooping area, and food and water area in the main coop. There are 28 flock members total including these two broodies. On May 1st, my first blue/splash cochin hatched under my BO. She was so excited. The next morning my Australorp hatched a Mille de Fleur chick and did not take it. She just stared at the little wet chick in the nest of eggs and ignored it's peeps. After about 15 minutes I was worried the chick would freeze (temp outside was 26F) so I grabbed the chick and gave her to my BO who took her immediately. Went out and checked on her a few hours later and she was already dried and loving on her new mama. The third egg started hatching and we had another cochin We decided to get two day old Blue Jersey Giants we located and my BO took those as well. My Australorp went back on her nest and sat on the remaining eggs. Sadly, she had no interest in the chicks that hatched and abandoned the nest. Luckily, my BO took all the new chicks. She is a remarkable amazing mother. Here are a few pics of the new hatches. We have (2) blue/splash cochins, (2) blue jersey giants, (1) Mille de Fleur, (1) Sebring, (1) Golden Laced Wyandotte, (1) Salmon Faverolle. The remaining eggs were duds and did not hatch.

My question / concern: The broody does not seem ready to introduce her chicks to the flock. She is in the main coop with them and will sing with them and call back to them but yesterday she went to start taking them outside and as she started down the plank, she turned around and ran them back in. A few hens came in while she was in there and she growled at them and they immediately left. We free range our hens on about 2 acres. They have a netted cover run extending from our coop out to our trees with a large outdoor coop for shade and shelter. The remaining field is wide open with various trees and shrubs. Anyway, I am worried about integration with the main group. I do not want her to stay inside the coop all day and too separated from the flock but I am also worried about her taking them outside in case the hens gang up on her or the chicks. She is high up on the pecking order but I have 3 RIR's that can be aggressive. Any advice on how to handle this? This is my first time ever hatching eggs and I want to make sure they get accepted into the flock ok. I do not want to wait until 4 weeks or when they are older. I feel it will be very hard on them. Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[azygous]

BOs are amazingly excellent broodies. You're very lucky to have one.

The secret to integrating new chicks into a flock is proximity. As long as the chicks are reared where the flock can watch the process, they will come to accept the chicks as part of the flock.

At the same time the adults are getting used to having babies around, the babies are paying attention to the array of different adult temperaments. They learn more quickly than you'd imagine how to identify the trouble makers from the benign adults.

In addition, the chicks have a broody to run interference for them should any adult get ideas of hassling her chicks. When I don't have a broody to raise my chicks, I brood them in the run in a safe pen where they are on full view to the adult flock. By the time I allow the chicks to begin mingling at two weeks of age, the adults have become mostly complacent about the chicks, only giving one a little peck on the back if it happens to get under a beak that's eating at the feeder.

For peace of mind and added safety during chick integration, I have strategically placed chick-size portals cut into all the partitions so no chick can get cornered by an adult bully. They are around 4 1/2 inches wide and 7" high and accommodates most chicks until age 10 weeks.

Either way you raise chicks, broody raised or brooded by you, giving the flock exposure to the chicks from the beginning will assure them being accepted into the flock with minimal drama.