I keep the broody hen and her chicks locked up separated from the flock zero days. She hatches in a regular nest in the coop, she decides when to bring her chicks off the nest, and she protects them from the other hens. I have never had a mature rooster threaten the chicks, sometimes a good rooster will help Mama take care of their babies, though most of time the rooster just stays away and leaves them alone.
On occasion another hen will be aggressive toward a chick, especially if that chick invades her private space. Usually if that happens she pecks the chick which them runs back to Mama’s protection. My broody hens generally ignore all this unless the hen follows the chick to keep up the lesson. Then Mama politely whips butt. When her chicks are in the wrong another hen can discipline them but no one threatens her chicks. I have had some broody hens that will attack any other chicken that gets close to her chicks, others are a lot more laid back. I’ve never had a hen that would not protect her chicks if they are in danger. You are dealing with living animals, others have had broody hens that don’t protect their chicks, so I can’t give any guarantees. But it has never been a problem for me.
It’s possible the chicks can get separated from Mama, especially if she goes through a gate and back along a fence where the chicks can’t get through. Chickens are not great on the concept of gate. I’ve had a rooster go over and stay with the chicks until Mama finally went back to the gate and collected her babies when this happened. To me this is the biggest danger of trying to isolate Mama and her chicks. If a chick escapes and goes to mingle with the rest of the flock with Mama locked up where she can’t protect the chick the chick is in danger.
If Mama raises them with the flock she will handle integration. If you keep them isolated until she weans them you have to handle integration. To me the biggest risk to the chicks is not when Mama is taking care of them, it’s after she weans them and leaves them alone with the flock. I’ve had that happen as young as three weeks in warm weather and more than nine weeks in all kinds of weather. I have lots of room and those three week old chicks were OK completely on their own with the rest of the flock. If your room is tight that can be more of a problem.
There are threads and photos on here where hens have raised chicks in the dead of winter up in Michigan or similar areas. You do not need to add any heat, Mama has a built in heater that never has a power outage. She can handle it. Many of us brood outdoors in weather below freezing. I do. I provide heat on one end of the brooder and let the rest cool off as it will. I’ve seen ice on the far end of my brooder in winter. Many people are surprised at how much time those chicks spend away from the heat in those brooders or with a broody hen. Winter is a more risky time to brood chicks, either with a broody or in a brooder outdoors. What might be an inconvenience in the heat of summer can become life threatening if the temperatures are really cold, but barring something unusual, broody hens normally manage quite well.
A standard way to handle feeding a mixed age flock where some are laying eggs and some are young is to feed them all the same feed. That can be a Starter, a Grower, or a Flock Raiser, basically anything except Layer. The higher calcium content in Layer can be harmful to the chicks. To provide the calcium laying hens need for their eggs, offer oyster shell on the side. The ones that need it should eat enough, the ones that don’t need it won’t eat enough to harm themselves.
Thanks again for such a kind gift of good advice!! I'm still learning, and after 4 years of having chickens, this is our first home hatch... it has been a little intimidating. Thanks BYC'ers for all the help!!
