I had 2 white silkie hens. One of them died to a predator. So one hen named Ari lived my itself for about 2 years. We added 8 2 month silkies eventually and she kind of did things herself mostly. We gave away 2, then 3 more silkies that appeared to be roos. Ari seems to be getting along pretty well with remaining 3. She oftens leads the pack and most vocal now though it is smaller than other 3 1/2 month old "jumbo" bantam silkies after those 8 left. Hopefully remaining 3 are all hens.
Anyway we decided to get some female chicks for egg production. Today I figured I would introduce the chicks (6 small 2 week old Americanas and isa browns) sooner hoping Ari would get along better. We were wrong. Ari spotted and heard the chicks then it just started to squawk non-stop while other 3 silkies weren't making that much! We chased her away hoping she would calm down once there was some distance but nope. She never squawked this much before. She kept squawking loud even from the distance so we brought the chicks back to indoor and finally she became quiet after a few minutes.
I mean is this normal? I thought Ari being a silkie hen and all, she would be fine around these 2 week old chicks and get used to be around them soon and lead them as well. Should I wait till these female chicks get bigger like I did initially with the other silkies? Or just bring the Ari indoor with these chicks into a small 4x4 greenhouse and get her get used to them cold turkey style? To describe Ari's personality, she is usually quiet and cautious type. With other silkie, she sleep in a next box all by herself while other silkies sleep in the coop in the small run area below. This coop (about 2x6) is inside a greenhouse that is about 12x6.
Anyway we decided to get some female chicks for egg production. Today I figured I would introduce the chicks (6 small 2 week old Americanas and isa browns) sooner hoping Ari would get along better. We were wrong. Ari spotted and heard the chicks then it just started to squawk non-stop while other 3 silkies weren't making that much! We chased her away hoping she would calm down once there was some distance but nope. She never squawked this much before. She kept squawking loud even from the distance so we brought the chicks back to indoor and finally she became quiet after a few minutes.
I mean is this normal? I thought Ari being a silkie hen and all, she would be fine around these 2 week old chicks and get used to be around them soon and lead them as well. Should I wait till these female chicks get bigger like I did initially with the other silkies? Or just bring the Ari indoor with these chicks into a small 4x4 greenhouse and get her get used to them cold turkey style? To describe Ari's personality, she is usually quiet and cautious type. With other silkie, she sleep in a next box all by herself while other silkies sleep in the coop in the small run area below. This coop (about 2x6) is inside a greenhouse that is about 12x6.