can newly hatched chicks and mom go back in with flock?

[Wendy77]

Right now we have a hen with three 2-day old chicks. We have been keeping her separate in a little house (like a rabbit hutch on the ground) where she sat on and hatched her eggs. They have food and water in there, we take her out briefly for exercise a couple of times a day and she is a great mom! The problem is, we have to go away for 5 days later next week. We will have someone letting the chickens out in the morning and closing them in at night. It seems like it would be too much confinement to keep the mom and chicks in the little house 24 hrs a day. But I am worried that if we put her and the chicks back in the big henhouse with the rest of the flock, the chicks will be harmed. Suggestions please!

 

[they'reHISchickens]

If the hen has been separated, I'd wait until the chicks are at least a week old to even begin the integration. The first week, chicks are still a little wobbly and insecure.
Is there room with the adults to put a separate cage inside for the family? Have the adults been able to see the new mom the entire time she has been hatching and now too? If she has been totally gone for 4 weeks, they may not remember her and fight with her as a new hen. I'd hate to have her deal with that AND take care of her babies at the same time.
You can always take the reintegration slowly with supervision and intervene if it starts going bad.