New chick introductions?

[rugerr1]

So this isnt my first time to raise baby chicks, but I have always kept them seperate from the flock. My hen has recently hatched a couple of chicks and she and the chicks are seperate from the flock, but can still be seen by the flock. My question is can i let her and the chicks into the flock now? I know that chickens hatch out chicks all the time within a flock but have never delt with it like this on my own and dont know what to expect.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are living animals. No one can give you guarantees as to what will definitely happen. We can tell you our experiences and what we think is most likely to happen, but we all have different experiences. You are likely to hear different stories.

Do you have a rooster with your flock? If a rooster sees the chicks at a young age he normally accepts them as his. He might or might not help Mama take care of them or protect them from the rest of the flock but he is highly unlikely to injure them. Since yours are right next to the flock you should be OK here.

What I normally see is that the other hens pretty much ignore the babies unless the chicks invade their personal space, though the hens are more of a danger than a dominant rooster. Non-dominant roosters may or may not be as much a danger as the hens if you have multiple roosters. If a chick does invade an older hen’s personal space it may be ignored but a peck to remind it that it is bad chicken etiquette to bother your betters is more likely. The chick runs back to Mama squawking and with its little wings flapping. Mama normally ignores all this. But if the hen starts to follow the chick, Mama politely whips butt. Nobody threatens her chicks.

Some broodies keep their chicks real close and will attack any chicken (except maybe the rooster) that gets anywhere close to her chicks. Others are more laid back about this and allow their chicks to roam quite a bit. It’s not that unusual for me to see the chicks scattered quite a bit and peacefully mingling with the rest of the flock especially when they get a bit older.

 

[rugerr1]

Yeah I have a rooster,he has always been very laid back. So it really is a gamble? What about feeding the chicks? as of now they have their own food and water that only they and mom can get to,how do I / should I handle this?

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way most of us handle feeding a mixed age flock like that is to give them all something safe for the chicks, Starter, Grower, maybe Flock Raiser and offer oyster shell on the side. The ones that need the calcium for the egg shells seem to know to eat the oyster shell, the ones that don’t need it don’t eat enough to harm themselves.

Having chickens is a gamble. Normally if Mama has enough room to work she does great. It’s not much of a gamble as long as you let her do her job. If space is too tight for Mama you are probably going to have integration problems later anyway.

 

[rugerr1]

Ok, I think I will stick to doing things like I have been and keep them by themselves untill they get larger. Thanks for the help