Introducing chick to flock

[tiffanya]

I had a hen hatch out a singe chick, which is 6 weeks old now. They have been separated in one corner of the run so the others can still see them but the chick is protected. Tried letting them out for a bit today and had a couple hens go after the chick pretty hard; one even went after the hen. Momma hen backed one hen off but didn't stop other from going after her chick. I ended up putting them back in their corner of the run. How normal is this? Do I have to not worry and let things play out or should I keep then separated longer until the chick is bigger? Will the other harm the hen when I reintroduce her as well?

 

[Czech's_chicks]

The best way to do it is at night, but ultimately, the pecking order still exists and there may be problems. I always keep mine in pens completely visible to my free rangers and then one day just open the door and they can go out when they feel comfortable.
My last hen that had 1 chick turned pretty quickly. It was only a few weeks before she started laying eggs again (I was surprised she went broody to begin with) so I ended up putting the chick in with my quail. He's just too little to integrate.