Integrating chicks

[EggMeOn255]

I have a very good mama hen. Chicks are about 3 weeks old. She still takes them into the dog crate where we put her to hatch them ( other hens kept trying to stick eggs under her as they all seem to like the same nesting box). None of the hens or rooster are aggressive toward the chicks and they free-range together all day. My question is: will she eventually take them into the coop at night or should we remove the crate and force the issue? I did try closing the crate up one night a week ago and she just gathered them under the coop. The coop is attached to a run and the crate is inside.

 

[BYCforlife]

I have a very good mama hen. Chicks are about 3 weeks old. She still takes them into the dog crate where we put her to hatch them ( other hens kept trying to stick eggs under her as they all seem to like the same nesting box). None of the hens or rooster are aggressive toward the chicks and they free-range together all day. My question is: will she eventually take them into the coop at night or should we remove the crate and force the issue? I did try closing the crate up one night a week ago and she just gathered them under the coop. The coop is attached to a run and the crate is inside.

A broody will probably try to keep her chicks safe from the rest of the flock until they are old enough to leave her. I think she would probably eventually bring them inside, but a broody hen never roosts:
She probably "thinks" that it is unnecessary to go into the coop since she associates the coop with roosting.

 

[EggMeOn255]

Thanks. I'm pretty sure she knows more about raising chicks than I do but they're getting kinda big to be up under her. It looks pretty uncomfortable.

 

[azygous]

For what it's worth here's the story of my current broody and her two chicks. It may give you a better idea of what you can expect.

Linda, a six-year old Speckled Sussex is an accomplished broody. However, she's never raised more than two chicks at a go due to poor hatch rates in my flock.(Virus) But she's a super mom.

She's very protective of her chicks and fiercely fights off any other flock member that she thinks may be getting too close. Her guard is never down during the first six weeks. After that, she begins to allow the chicks to experience consequences of their mistakes with older flock members, and now at age nine weeks, she doesn't fight their battles for them at all. If they screw up, the chicken they sinned against punishes them.

Back when the chicks were five weeks old, I blocked off their broody nest and began placing the chicks on the roosting perch. I placed Linda up there with them. It took about three nights, and all three were roosting on their own.

However, even still, at nine weeks old, the chicks hunker under her wings while sleeping on the perch. The cockerel at times will sleep on the perch between her legs, peeking out from under her like a penguin baby. It's so funny, I even begin to describe how much.

So, you may wish to try encouraging broody and chicks to begin roosting sometime after age four weeks. You will need to block access to the nest or they will keep preferring it to roosting. They are, however, entirely capable of roosting after they reach this age.

On average, broodies cut their chicks loose around age six weeks. Linda cut her early summer chick loose at five weeks. I have no idea why she's coddling these two nine-week olds. Maybe, at six years, she may sense they could be her final brood.