New Momma and a Silkie Situation

[GoblinG00P]

I apologize in advance for the wall of text. But long story short, we have a bunch of 3 month old chicks, most of them are big enough to go out with the big chickens and integration has been going well. The problem comes from the 4 silkies we have, they're absolutely tiny ... Which is fine, I know they'll always be smaller than the rest, but for now they're just too small to be outside unsupervised in our area. Now, we have a new Momma Hen who is separated from the flock (but still visible) and she just hatched all 5 of her sisters eggs and is doing great with them ... I know 3 months is too old to give the silkies to her to take care of. But we gave it a try (I have cameras in the coop to keep an eye on the chicks at all times). We snuck them under her a few nights ago and all 4 snuggled up with her immediately. Unbelievably 3 of them are her babies now, following her around,hiding under her wings and playing with the new chicks (who are only a little bit smaller than they are) but she absolutely hates the black one for whatever reason. Not attacking it, just scaring it away from everyone else .... My question is, since she's accepted the other 3, will she ever accept this one? I won't separate it off by itself, but I'd like to solve this problem if I can.

 

[My Bagurks]

It’s doubtful she will accept it. She has already clearly rejected it and I don’t think they change their minds.

BUT in the hopes that I am wrong. You can try waiting until after dark to try again. Chickens do some weird things. But also be careful she doesn’t start attacking it.

As long as the mama isn’t attacking it, I’d keep it with her and the babies. She may eventually get used to it at least. Do the other thre silkies still hang out with the 4th at all?
And at 3 months, I don’t think they NEED mama for warmth. So it may be ok growing up as a red(black) headed stepchild.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I apologize in advance for the wall of text. But long story short, we have a bunch of 3 month old chicks, most of them are big enough to go out with the big chickens and integration has been going well. The problem comes from the 4 silkies we have, they're absolutely tiny ... Which is fine, I know they'll always be smaller than the rest, but for now they're just too small to be outside unsupervised in our area. Now, we have a new Momma Hen who is separated from the flock (but still visible) and she just hatched all 5 of her sisters eggs and is doing great with them ... I know 3 months is too old to give the silkies to her to take care of. But we gave it a try (I have cameras in the coop to keep an eye on the chicks at all times). We snuck them under her a few nights ago and all 4 snuggled up with her immediately. Unbelievably 3 of them are her babies now, following her around,hiding under her wings and playing with the new chicks (who are only a little bit smaller than they are) but she absolutely hates the black one for whatever reason. Not attacking it, just scaring it away from everyone else .... My question is, since she's accepted the other 3, will she ever accept this one? I won't separate it off by itself, but I'd like to solve this problem if I can.

Wow you were lucky for her to accept 3 older ones, 3 months old is a huge difference in ability and size I would think ... At 3 months old the chicks wouldn't need heat and can look after themselves so I would either seperate the black one with a friend chick in another area (but still next to or able to see the others) Or I would just seperate all those 3 months old into another coop together (with ability to see others of your flock of possible so integrating is easier when you decide to combine them all into 1 flock if that is your intention) .. I would be nervous that mother hen may attack that chick so wouldn't leave it in there.

 

[Battlepants]

3 months old isn't really a chick anymore, IMO. Any particular reason you are trying to get a hen to take on a chick rather than just trying to just integrate as normal?

And yea, on the note of needing momma for heat - that need is usually gone at around 4-8 weeks. They'll do just fine clustering together for heat, or even just up on the roost bar at this age.

I would probably go the route of putting them up in a dog crate for the see-but-not-touch method for a while. After a while of seeing eachother, release them under supervision and see if they integrate as equals. I expect some pecking order incidents, but nobody should get hurt.

 

[GoblinG00P]

We used a dog crate initially but a couple of the neighbors cats have been pacing the chicken area trying to find a way in ... I have it locked up pretty tight and don't think they can, but the silkies are pretty small and might be able to fit through the holes. An escaped chicken is easy enough to catch and return to the pen, but if one got out there's a chance the cats get to it first. I've tried to scare them off but they must not care because they always come back. So yeah I'm not trying to keep them warm or anything, just think it would be safer to be with the protective mama than on their own. Our one rooster right now is a literal chicken ... So my hopes for him giving protection aren't too high.

 

[GoblinG00P]

For reference, the left little chicken head is one of the silkies last night, and the right little chicken head is one of the hatched chicks.

 

[Battlepants]

Hardware cloth is your friend here. Holes will be too small for a cat paw or for a small chick.

If the cats persist, I would suggest speaking with animal control about your rights here. If anything, they may authorize you to put out a live trap and give the cats over to them to handle.

As for the rooster, him protecting the flock may come with age. How old is he currently?

 

[GoblinG00P]

He's a couple months over a year old. He acts tough but I've seen him run from a squirrel that went for the food. And I've considered wrapping the chicken area in something with smaller holes, it'll just be a decent chunk of money to wrap around the whole thing, but I might have to do it anyways.