Two broody Silkie hens hatched some chicks we hatched some from the same clutch in the incubator When we saw the mother hens out in the yard with their chicks we felt bad for the 3 in the brooder and thought we could integrate them...chicks all the same age. When we put them down with the hens they seemed to accept them and we watched for quite a while to make sure. When we went near them the one hen attacked us...which I thought was a good sign that she accepted them as her own. We left for a couple of hours and came home to check on them and the 3 added chicks were huddled in the corner I reached in to pick them up and noticed one had a small peck spot on it's wing...when I put them back down *near* the mothers the one mother attacked them. So they are back in the brooder and my daughter says she will take them out for their daily free range. Just wondering at what age can we try to integrate them again? 8weeks? Wonder why she seemed to accept them at first and then change her mind. All the chicks are 5 days old.
Size has more to do with integration than age. You want the chicks to be close to the same size as the hens when introducing them. Some people are lucky enough to be able to sneak the newbies into the coop at night. I had to make an enclosure for my 2 silkies inside the run for my 4 isa pullets. I left them separate for a week and the big girls still picked on the silkies a lot. I cut a small hole in a plastic tote just big enough for the silkies to fit in but not the isas. It was a great place for the girls to hide when things got too scary. The whole time I had to make sure I had a separate source of food and water. The isas wouldn't share with the silkies. It's been about 2 weeks since I put them all together and they'll finally share and get along.
