newly hatched chicks around the flock?

[chkinut]

hi guys! i have a broody bantam hen who has been on the nest for a week now. i believe she got broody when i brought our chicks out to the run and put them in the grow-out pen. they were a week old at the time and she was pacing back and forth around the grow-out pen and the next day she went broody. can chicks cause a hen to go broody? and when/if her 3 eggs hatch, should i move her and her brood into the grow-out pen WITH the other chicks (who will be 4 weeks old then)? OR should i leave her in the run with the rest of the girls (8 hens all together, 6 standards and 2 bantams)? i am worried the grown girls will kill the babies. i have hatched eggs MANY times from my bator but i have NEVER had a hen go broody. i bought some fertile eggs from a local neighbor and put them under her to give her a shot at motherhood. (we have no rooster)

 

[Mrs. K]

Personally, I like a broody hen raising chicks, she does all the work. And I do leave them with the flock. Usually, mama hen is a hormone pecking order queen. And she will defend those chicks aggressively the younger the chicks are. As the chicks grow, the hormone wanes, and by that time the flock is used to the chicks.

Mrs K

 

[donrae]

Personally, I like a broody hen raising chicks, she does all the work. And I do leave them with the flock. Usually, mama hen is a hormone pecking order queen. And she will defend those chicks aggressively the younger the chicks are. As the chicks grow, the hormone wanes, and by that time the flock is used to the chicks.

Mrs K

me too.

 

[chkinut]

thank you SO much!!! i will keep them with the flock then! cant wait to see it all happen! i hope at least one hatches. she's a TINY little bantam and has 3 large eggs under her!

 

[Aronia]

Have fun!

 

[centrarchid]

You will likely realize higher survival rates if broody hen and chicks allowed to range away from balance of flock if flock is confined, especially with hens of low social stature before start of broody cycle. Merger occurring when chicks more than 2 weeks old also helps.

 

[themenagerie]

ME three! I read stories about the other birds in the flock being a danger and even killing the babies, but it's never happened, and we've raised a bunch of chicks within the flock. I don't know if i have good birds, good mama's or both. I think it's both.