Hen and Chicks - Reintegration

[RobAFish]

We had a broody hen and we decided to switch the eggs under her with chicks. She took to them right off no problem. But we had one other chicken who became aggressive and wanted to kill the chicks. Our Momma chicken is not great at defending them, so we separated her into a smaller run within the run of the other chickens. They have not rejected Momma as we give her moments to take a dust bath among the others while we care for her chicks; she has her spa-moment. We are at about 2 weeks since introduction of the chicks. This seems to be working but I am concerned about when we should try to allow the Momma and chicks to join the larger group? Can anyone give some advice on how old they should be? The chicks still look very little, and since there are only 3 I am afraid one will be killed even though momma is dominant, and not afraid to kick the buts of her like age sisters.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I generally wait until chicks are around 2 weeks of age. Than they are strong enough to get away. If necessary I would pen the aggressive hen until the chicks get bigger. I've had hens kill chicks so I would definitely take it slow and be cautious. The higher the hen is in the pecking order the less troubles from what I've seen.

 

[RobAFish]

I generally wait until chicks are around 2 weeks of age. Than they are strong enough to get away. If necessary I would pen the aggressive hen until the chicks get bigger. I've had hens kill chicks so I would definitely take it slow and be cautious. The higher the hen is in the pecking order the less troubles from what I've seen.

Thank you for the confirmation. As I did not get a quick response. I started slowly letting them out with supervision. Overall, Momma has been kicking but on her sisters when they get too close. She usually takes the little ones on a walk around the yard then goes back to the run. I close them in and everyone is happy. My only concern is that she sometimes is not attentive to where they all are, and gets separated. Other than that she holds her own and the big ones for the most part go the other way when she and the little ones are coming their way.

 

[RobAFish]

Momma and chicks taking a dust bath. They learned their lessons well.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Most mother hens wait until they hear the kids peeping loudly to go look for them. Otherwise they seem to assume everything is well. Glad she's doing well.