Introducing Momma hen into the flock

[am7039]

I have a hen that hatched 4 chicks. The chicks are now 5 weeks old and momma hen is starting to show shes weening them away from her. I want to introduce Momma hen back into the original flock and she shows signs of wanting to do that but with every attempt I have another hen that is attacking her and chasing her everywhere. Any ideas on how to get momma back into the flock?

 

[Smileybans]

I’m in the same situation you are except my chicks are only a week old. My momma wanted so badly to be back into the flock so I let her back supervised. She has to figure out where she is in the pecking order again. I pretty much let her figure it out as long as her, or her babies, aren’t in any real danger.
Can you set up a dog kennel or fencing in your run or coop for her? That way the rest of the flock can see her and her chicks but not attack her. It’ll make integrating back in easier. I stuck a kennel with my momma and chicks into the run. I don’t let her out until I let everyone out of the run and into the yard. It’s safer for the chicks and her.

 

[am7039]

I could split the run temporarily but the coop will be the issue. I could split the coop but it's going to take a lot including putting in another door for just her and the babies get in and out of. I thought about just letting her find her place back in the flock and keeping her babies seperate but my one hen is pretty vicious to her and I dont want her getting hurt. I think I may just give it some more time and let the groups free range for a little bit during the day and see if that will help.

 

[Smileybans]

That sounds like a plan. Free ranging gives her and the chicks more room to get away. I’ve also seen some people separate their coop with wire and make a pop hole in the wire that just the hen and the babies can fit through.

 

[am7039]

I like that idea. Thank you! Hopefully it gets better. They use to be best buddies but then Daisy went broody and hatched some eggs for me. She remained with the flock up until they hatched then I put her and babies in a new coop. I was hoping to transition her back in order to keep that coop available for more chickens

 

[Smileybans]

I’m sure it’ll get better. Once the chicks find their place things will settle down. So I have read. This is my first time with a hen raising chicks. Ive been brooder raising them and then introducing them to the flock.
But my hen is causing fights with one of my other silkies, Beakers. Any time Beakers gets within range of Poofs babies she freaks out. I’ve had to separate them because at one point Poof had left the babies behind to attack Beakers. The other hens had come over to the babies in the mean time and I didn’t want them getting hurt while Poof was battling.

 

[am7039]

We are in the same boat. I wanted to integrate daisy and her babies with a younger group but daisy attacked the little ones so i thought I'd put them with the older ones but now daisy gets attacked and she is no longer protecting her babies from the other hens so at this rate I'm going to have 3 different flocks because nobody can get along.

 

[aart]

This is why it's best to integrate broody and chicks back into the flock about 1 week after hatch...even better to have her set and hatch within sight of the flock.

I use a temporary wire wall to section off a 4x6 section of the coop, it has it's own pop door and separate run.

Once I had a broody hatch and also incubated a batch of chicks, that was not fun.
Will never do it again.

 

[am7039]

Its definitely a good lesson learned. I was spontaneous decision to let her hatch some fertile eggs so I definitely should have gave myself more time to make to make the coop adjustments before making that decision. It was a learning process that's for sure. I was so worried the other hens would attack the babies that I thought it was just best at the time to seperate them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

She remained with the flock up until they hatched then I put her and babies in a new coop.

I let mine hatch with the flock and don't separate them at all, the hen raises the chicks with the flock from Day 1. I've never had an issue with integration, though once the hen weans them the chicks are on their own with the flock. The chicks manage that by avoiding the adults until the chicks mature enough to force their way into the pecking order. I have the room where that isn't a problem. The hen has never had an issue reentering the flock when she weans her chicks.

Lots of people do something similar to what Aart does, keep the hen and chicks separated a few days before letting them out with the flock. Plenty do something similar to what you did, isolate the hen and chicks for a relatively long time. For whatever reasons we each do things our own way.

The way I see it you have three entities to deal with. You have your regular flock, a single hen that has weaned her chicks and is on her own as far as being integrated into that regular flock, and a group of 5 week old chicks totally on their own as far as integrating into the regular flock. The hen has weaned them, she will no longer protect them. Don't think of integrating the hen and chicks as a unit, they are not a unit.

For the chicks, treat them as you would if they were brooder-raised. People do that all the time on here. I suspect the "flock" could see them in that separate coop as they were free ranging. The chicks should be in the habit of sleeping in that separate coop. The way I'd approach the chicks is let them free range with the flock during the day and let them continue to sleep in that separate coop until they prove they can get along with the rest. That's very close to what I do. I'm in no hurry, I let them roam in the same space for a month before I move them to the main coop to sleep. I don't know how big your main coop is or what it looks like inside, that may be a bottleneck for you.

I'd do the same for that single hen but I suspect she'll want to return to the main coop to sleep and rejoin the main flock during the day. If that hen is being attacked by a specific hen then isolate the aggressor for a week or so, then let her out to rejoin the others. Sometimes that changes their behaviors. I've had success and failures trying something like that.

I’ve also seen some people separate their coop with wire and make a pop hole in the wire that just the hen and the babies can fit through.

Think about that one a minute. That is a common technique when integrating small chicks, but how do you cut a hole the broody hen can fit through that the rest of the hens her size can't? That's a great technique if the chicks are small enough but doesn't work with adults.

I agree with you on free ranging. That's a great way of getting them used to each other while giving the chicks room to get away and avoid the adults. I do that and it sure makes my life easier.