General Population

[orangecatrex]

Morning everyone.
2 days ago i came home to a new baby chick. This hen is among the general population (for lack of a better term). I didn't find out about the new arrival until evening when i bring the gang in from the pasture and lock them away for the night. I placed the baby and momma in a pen outside the coop/yard. My question is how long before mom and baby can join the gang? I have plenty of baby/momma food and ok room for both to move around. I saw both baby and momma eating and drinkin so that's all working well. My only fear is 2 young cats who think they still wanna grab a full grown hen. They are still young and 1 has taken a rooster strike but still hasn't learned.
Momma is very protective of the precious lil chick, but i don't want to jump the gun and have another hen or one of the cats get it.

Thanks.......

 

[Lollipop]

To be honest, It`s common to lose one or two chicks from a brood. Having only one, I would keep them penned until 6 weeks just to be safe. Good luck.......Pop

 

[orangecatrex]

Thanks Pop.

I've been letting mom and babe out a lil while each day but they return to their area after a few hours. Mom is real good at this momma thing. When i feed them white bread she will break off lil pieces for the baby. It's so sweet.

Thanks again for your input.

OCR

 

[Mahonri]

Where's the pics?