Integrating Mama and Chick

[CoalLucker]

A broody hen of mine just sat on some eggs but only hatched out one chick from them. The chick is about 24 hours old now and I was planning on introducing her to the flock and everything so that she can integrate well but I'm not really sure how to go about it. Should I put the mama and the chick in a cage and put them in the run to introduce them back into the flock and then eventually let them back out? Any advice on how to do it or whether I should wait if the chick is older to do this?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I do it two ways. Often I let the hen hatch with the flock, bring the chicks off the nest whenever she wants, and let her raise the chicks with the flock from that point. I put food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to it.

When the coop is fairly crowded, I let the hen bring the chicks off the nest when she wishes and move them all to a predator-proof shelter out of the coop inside my electric netting. Of course they get food and water. I leave them locked in there for two or three nights, then open it up and let Mama take care of things. By spending two or three nights locked in there, the hen takes them to bed in that shelter instead of taking them into my crowded coop to sleep.

I raise mine mostly for meat. I time my hatches so by the time these chicks are ready to move into either my grow-out coop or the main coop, my over-crowding has been taken care of. I don't know what your facilities look like, what your goals are, or a lot more about your situation, but both ways work really well for me.

Good luck!