Introducing chick and mum to flock

[Puckaster]

They look small too...do your birds lay in them?

They do lay in them. The hen hatched the chicks in there. Sometimes they even share one. Each box is 250mm x 320mm floor spaxe. 4 in total but i only put straw in 2 (one side) as its easier to access not being against the fence.

 

[aart]

They do lay in them. The hen hatched the chicks in there. Sometimes they even share one. Each box is 250mm x 320mm floor spaxe. 4 in total but i only put straw in 2 (one side) as its easier to access not being against the fence.

Thanks! That's about what I thought.
Do they sleep in the nests?

 

[Puckaster]

Thanks! That's about what I thought.
Do they sleep in the nests?

So that didn't go very well tonight when they went to bed. Mum joined the main flock in the larger coop. The chicks joined her at first and then after the other wents in the was a bit of pushing and pecking and then they came out and were very confused. 1 went back to the old coop they've been in and the other 2 chicks didn't know were to go, so I put them in with the other one. Mum's in the main coop without. Should I do anything. Either move them in there or mum in with them....?
They don't sleep in the best boxes normally in the main coop

 

[Puckaster]

Stop interfering in the intragration process. Don't remove them anymore.

The mother hen knows the best integration strategy. Sometimes here the mother will just march the chicks back to the flock coop at three or four days old. Sometimes the chicks are hatched in the flock coop and this saves a lot of integration problems later.
I’ve had hens wait until a few days before they abandon the chicks before they take the now pullets and cockerels back to the flock coop.
I’ve had so few problems with the hen doing the introductions and integration.
There is one problem to be aware of. My coops are off the ground on legs. While mum knows how to climb the ramp, chicks often have problems working this out. They see mum go up the ramp and when mum starts calling the chicks to join her the chicks tend to go closest to the mum’s voice which is of course under the coop. Mum comes back down and tries again. If the mother can’t get the chicks to follow her up the ramp then, depending on the mum, she may just leave them; this can be a problem. I put the chicks in the coop with mum in this case. Watch out if you do this because the chicks give a distress call and mum comes out of the coop in full battle order!
Sometimes the chicks don’t go in and mum comes back out and sits under the coop with the chicks under her wing. She will stay there all night if necessary.
I put them all in the coop at this point.
You may have to do this for a couple of days. Eventually the chicks work out where home and mum is.
Some of the things that influence when and how the mum integrates the chicks are; where she (mum) is in the hierarchy, (more senior hens have fewer problems), whether the group rooster is the chicks father, the available space in the coop for the mum to protect her chicks from other hens usually.
The quicker the chicks integrate the more they will learn and the better protection they will get by being in the flock.
A mum out on her own rearing chicks makes me very nervous.

So that didn't go very well tonight when they went to bed. Mum joined the main flock in the larger coop. The chicks joined her at first and then after the others went in there was a bit of pushing and pecking and then they (the chicks) came out and were very confused. 1 went back to the old coop they've been in and the other 2 chicks didn't know were to go, so I put them in with the other one. Mum's in the main coop without them. Should I do anything. Either move them in there or mum in with them....?

 

[Shadrach]

So that didn't go very well tonight when they went to bed. Mum joined the main flock in the larger coop. The chicks joined her at first and then after the others went in there was a bit of pushing and pecking and then they (the chicks) came out and were very confused. 1 went back to the old coop they've been in and the other 2 chicks didn't know were to go, so I put them in with the other one. Mum's in the main coop without them. Should I do anything. Either move them in there or mum in with them....?

I wouldn’t separate mum and chicks. If mum thinks its okay to take the chicks in then I would go with mums instinct.
There is usually a bit of pecking and noise as mum and chicks find a safe place in the coop.
The chicks instinct is to go to where they were hatched usually. If it was me, I would take a chance and just put the chicks back in with mum. If mum can't or wont protect them in the coop, she won’t do it anywhere else either.
If there are problems then you need to be there every night at roost time until the chicks go in on their own.
My view is you cannot protect them all the time. I’ve had two chicks hurt over the last seven years of letting mum hatch and integrate. You take a chance whatever you do.
Given you’ve now split them up you may not be able to easily repair the damage.

 

[aart]

The chicks joined her at first and then after the others went in there was a bit of pushing and pecking and then they (the chicks) came out and were very confused.

That's why I suggested putting one of the smaller coops in the larger run, preferably the coop that mum and chicks were in before connecting the runs.

Mum is trying to wean the chicks and rejoin the older birds at the same time...it's going to be chaotic.