Question! Mama hen and chicks

[Mica.alexi]

Hello all,
I had a silver pencil hen hatch 3 chicks just over a week ago. This is not my first time raising chicks but my first time hatching chicks and having mama hen take care of them vs. a brooder

We have 2 chicks left. 1 went missing (I don't know what happened, I think she escaped our broody jail and a predictor got her as there's no remains of her anywhere. But I just don't know, and I don't want this happening again)

Anyway. My QUESTION is -
Can I remove the 2 chicks and bring them inside and raise them in a brooder? Or will that stress mama hen out and is that something you shouldn't do?
Am I supposed to leave the chicks with her for the next 6 weeks until she leaves them alone herself?

I'm just worried as it's getting colder at night, and she doesn't look the most healthy, she seems to have a limp and I want her to get out and about and heal.

I am new to this forum page, and I've only had chickens for about a year and so any and all advice is appreciated

Thank you

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You can pull them and brood them, though they may already be quite wild by now without handling. Otherwise mom will keep them warm and wean them when she's ready. You may think you are helping her by removing them but it could cause stress that can bring on diseases and health problems, so consider it carefully. The chicks will grow up easily in the flock and won't need integration. Your set up can dictate your decisions too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can take the chicks away and brood them yourself. Personally I'd prefer to have more than two to do that. They are social animals and if one dies the other will be very lonely. The hen will be stressed for a few days but she will soon get over it and break from being broody. I don’t know how “poorly” she is doing but I would not think taking her chicks away would help or hurt her.

You are supposed to do what you want to do. Just because OHLD or I do something one way doesn’t mean everyone in the world has to do it that way. We are all unique with our own experiences, goals, set-ups, and conditions. There is no one right way where every other way is wrong.

I don’t know your set-up or conditions but you’ve seen what I think is the biggest risk in trying to isolate a hen and her chicks from the flock or anything else. A chick gets away from Mama’s protection and can’t get back. They can get through some mighty small holes. Integrating the hen and her chicks back with the flock later is another issue but many people choose to do it that way. With different goals, set-ups, and conditions different things work best for different people. I let my broody hens raise the chicks with the flock from hatch and I have never lost a chick to another adult. But I have lost a few over the years, probably to a snake.

There are threads on here where a broody hen hatched and raised chicks with the temperatures often below freezing. Weather like that is a greater risk than the nice warm days of summer. An incident that might be an inconvenience in summer can become deadly in really cold weather. I don’t know where you are or what kind of temperatures you are talking about but, in general, the broody hen should be able to handle the cold.

Welcome to the forum, glad you joined.