need help how to introduce brudy with chick back to flock

[Cluky]

I have a flock of 7 chickens and one was broody for a bit and hatched an egg. baby now is three days old. when and how do I introduce them back to flock without others causing significant hard to baby? I know mom will protect but there will be 7 eyeing the baby and only 1 mom

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Mostly it depends on the temperment of the other hens.
You could probably do it right now and the only problem would be keeping the broody hen from beating up the rest of your chickens.
You don't need to be in any hurry to do it though because all it takes is 1 peck to your bitty's head from another hen if it got too close at feeding time or wandered away from it's mother and it would be dead.
You should play it safe and wait about a week so the bitty is big & strong enough to actually run away if it needs to. Right now at 3 days it's totally helpless. When you finally introduce them, do it for brief periods to observe and evaluate how they act. Don't just dump them in there and leave for the day.

 

[sumi]

I've had hens raise chicks with the rest of the flock from day 1 with mixed results. One of my previous flocks were awful with new chicks and I lost a few, but my current flock is amazing and I've had no problems at all. As the above poster pointed out, a small chick is fragile, but a broody hen that is fully into mothering is a force to be reckoned with too. A good broody will protect her chick(s) against anything, be it other flock members or predators. (I've seen a broody hen beat up a hawk that was after her chicks once).

Ideally you should reintroduce mom with her chick to the flock some time before she weans it, which should be when the chick is around 6-7 weeks old. This way the flock will get to know and accept the chick and the chick will be fully integrated by the time mom loses interest and leaves it to fend for itself. So don't put it off too long. Good luck!