New chicks again

[brains]

In the past whenever we go out of town out silkies hatch some eggs. Well just got back and I now have 2 out 3 chicks (one died) in a nesting box with 2 hens. There are also about 6 more eggs.
I usually set up something inside for the hen and chicks but do I really need to? I also have 2 silkie roosters.
What are my options? I would love to leave them outside and finish hatching and leave them to deal with it outside, but do the moms feed and water them, and will the other hens and roosters leave them alone?
Thanks
Ed

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I let mine hatch and do their business in the coop, for the most part. I only have two nest boxes in my main Silkie coop, so one of them needs to remain open so the other girls have somewhere to lay. If I have more than one hen sitting (like now, I have 5 ) I have to move them somewhere. At the moment, one of the nest boxes is occupied by a broody. Two more are in a medium sized dog crate, in the coop, with the door open so they can come and go as they please. They were sharing a nest when I moved them, so I left them that way. Another is sitting in between the nest boxes, on the coop floor. The last is in a cardboard box in her separate breeding pen (I have a quad and a trio separated into their own breeding pens, the pens each had 1 nest box). When the girl in the breeding pen went broody, I cut a hole in the end of a cardboard box, stuffed it with straw and put her in it. They've all been happily sitting in their places for a couple of weeks now.
Anyway, even though I've moved some of them around, they're still with their flocks, roosters included. My Silkie roosters do a fantastic job of helping with the chicks. They call them over for treats, and occasionally cover them while mom is off dust bathing or scratching around.

If your flock isn't particularly aggressive, I'd just leave the hens to deal with the chicks in the coop. They should run off any of the other birds that they deem a threat and you wont have to deal with integrating everyone or have them in your house. The hens will show them where the food is, and they'll pick and bill out pieces and drop them on the ground if you've got a hanging feeder they can't reach. You will have to make sure they have access to the drinker though. If its elevated, lower it or provide another that's on the ground, at chick level.

Good luck!