is a New mother Hen enough security for New Chicks in the Coop?

[BigOJoe]

This is the first hatch from a brooding banty hen. i have never had a hen successfully hatch any before. She has 2 new chicks and there are 3 other hens and 2 roosters in a 8 x8 coop. Should I seperate her and the chicks from the group for a while till they get bigger? or will lil momma take care of them?

 

[lotzahenz]

Well, I have seen it work just fine, depends on the temperment of the hen. Supposedly they will be fine. In my own case, sometimes the baby chicks get separated from mamma and get pecked a lot, but my coop is bigger, around 20 by 12 with a pop door. My thoughts are it is completely the hen that will make the difference. I keep mine in an old metal water trough/stock tank until they have some size on them and outgrow the tank. Then, allow them in with others. If it is special chicks, like expensive, I don't take the chance and keep them separated the whole time. I love to see them all natural though, immersed into the flock early.

 

[Happy Chooks]

How high on the pecking order is the hen? If she's low on the order (like mine was) you may want to separate her and the chicks from the others. If she's high up on the pecking order, I wouldn't worry so much.

 

[andalusn]

I have two hens that like to be broody. The LF Cochin likes to set in a nest box inside the hen house. The eggs hatch and then I usually relocate her to a X-pen setup close to the hen house but in my barn. The chickens share this common area. The only reason I do this is because the nest box is elevated and for the first week or so the chicks would not be able to jump/fly back up if they fell out. Once the hen and chicks are about 2 weeks old I open the x pen and let her back out amongst the flock and sometime she will continue to sleep and eat in the X pen but eventually she takes the chick back to the hen house at night and they start to roost amongst the other birds. The second broody hatches her hidden clutch in my hay stack and the first few days after hatching she settles them in a wooden box I I have by the hay then sometime w/in the first week she takes them to the chicken side of the barn to show them the food and I move the box and she stays there amongst the flock day /night but they sleep in the box until they just don't fit anymore. When she's done raising them she moves back to the hen house and the chicks are fully integrated. While they were between hatching and 2 months old she took them daily all over the place showing them where to eat, how to scratch and find bugs etc. My flock free ranges the property during the day and takes themselves back to the hen house in the afternoon.