Reintegrating mama hen and chicks back into flock

[ShFms]

Hey there! I have a mama hen who hatched out two chicks, they're now 4 weeks old. She has been in a separate hut/pen area than the rest of the flock since she was sitting on the nest. However it's right next to the pen for the rest of the flock. . I was wondering what suggestions anyone had for reintegrating mama and chicks back into the flock. I do allow free ranging in the afternoons which mama and babies have been doing as well for the past week. While everyone is out free ranging there's been some interactions with each other, with no major problems. When it's time for them to return to their coops, mama takes her chicks to their quarters and the rest of the flock goes to theirs.
My thought was to put mama and babies in with the rest of the flock, cold turkey style, and leave everyone together for 24 hours or a couple of days. Mama would protect the babies and they can assimilate the pecking order. Thoughts or suggestions from your own experiences?

We have a small flock...1 rooster, 4 hens (including the mama), and two chicks.

 

[Shadrach]

Hey there! I have a mama hen who hatched out two chicks, they're now 4 weeks old. She has been in a separate hut/pen area than the rest of the flock since she was sitting on the nest. However it's right next to the pen for the rest of the flock. . I was wondering what suggestions anyone had for reintegrating mama and chicks back into the flock. I do allow free ranging in the afternoons which mama and babies have been doing as well for the past week. While everyone is out free ranging there's been some interactions with each other, with no major problems. When it's time for them to return to their coops, mama takes her chicks to their quarters and the rest of the flock goes to theirs.
My thought was to put mama and babies in with the rest of the flock, cold turkey style, and leave everyone together for 24 hours or a couple of days. Mama would protect the babies and they can assimilate the pecking order. Thoughts or suggestions from your own experiences?

We have a small flock...1 rooster, 4 hens (including the mama), and two chicks.

If the mother hen and her chicks can come and go as they please during the day, at least enough to mix with the other chickens then usually the mother takes the chicks back to the main coop.
My take is give them the freedom to decide for themselves.
The last lot of chicks where I am were hatched in the main coop and were out in the run with the adults on day two.

 

[ShFms]

Thank you for your suggestion. The last time this hen hatched chicks, we left her in the main coop and it went well. This time around she was being pecked at while sitting on the nest and seemed quite stressed, so I moved her out.
While everyone is free ranging together things are pretty calm. Hoping transitioning them back to the main coop will go well!

 

[Ridgerunner]

While everyone is out free ranging there's been some interactions with each other, with no major problems. When it's time for them to return to their coops, mama takes her chicks to their quarters and the rest of the flock goes to theirs.

What is your real goal? Do you just want the hen and chicks to sleep in the main coop? Do you want the hen and chicks to stay in the run with the others? Or do you want something else?

How big is your main coop? Any run attached to it? How big? Basically what do you have to work with? How much room you have matters. Mama needs a certain amount of room to take care of her chicks with the flock.

What you describe sounds pretty normal. Like Shadrach I typically let Mama raise her chicks with the flock but occasionally, when the main coop is getting overcrowded, I put a hen and her newly hatched chicks in a shelter in the run. I leave them in there for two nights and then let them roam during the day with the rest of the flock. Those two nights are enough, after that the hen takes them back to the shelter to sleep, not to the main coop. Your hen is doing exactly what I would expect.

At some point that broody hen will wean her chicks. I've had some of them wean chicks at 3 weeks, I've had some not wean them until close to three months. I have no idea when your hen will wean them. Until then she is handling integration for you.

I've had different things happen with these broody hens and chicks. Some hens move the chicks to the main coop with them whenever she wants to. These might sleep on the coop floor with her or she might take them to the roosts.

Some hens abandon the chicks when they wean them. The hens move back to sleep on the roosts in the main coop and leave their chicks on their own in that shelter. When that happens the chicks may eventually move to the main coop on their own at a later date or I may need to move them myself.

We have a small flock...1 rooster, 4 hens (including the mama), and two chicks.

Many people with flocks this small often have very small coops and runs. That is where my concern is coming from. If you have enough room you should not have any issues moving the hen and chicks into the main coop.

If you have sufficient room I don't think you will have a problem. I'd wait until dark so they are easier to catch and put them in the main coop on the floor. You may only need to do that once. Or she may take them back to your shelter so I'd close it off and wait until she has taken them to bed, then move them again. Do this every night until she takes them to the man coop on her own. It should not take long until she makes the switch.

Good luck!

 

[ShFms]

I appreciate all of the input!
Yesterday evening she kept taking them into the main coop and run area, so I closed off her separate space she's been using to see what would happen. She took them into the coop and nestled in there with them. The remaining 4 were a little cautious of going back into the run, but eventually did. Everyone was being pleasant this morning while being cooped up together.
I guess Mama was ready to handle it herself!

 

[EadieC2]

I have the same situation except that I cannot let my free range due to where I live (in the woods and we have a lake, so every predator in the world lives in our area…bald eagles, hawks, coyotes, snakes, owls, raccoons, possums, stray dogs, etc).
So my hen and chicks have been separated from the rest of the flock in the coop, but only by chicken wire.
My chicks are now 6 weeks old.
Here’s my question: should I feed the entire flock chick-starter if i want to integrate them? That’s a tricky slope to climb….everyone has different needs, but it would be nice to integrate them all!! Help!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way most of us handle this is to feed a low calcium feed to everyone and offer oyster shell on the side. Typically the ones that need the calcium for their eggshells eat enough and the rest do not eat enough to harm themselves.

 

[ShFms]

I got an All Flock feed, and mixed in the remaining chick starter because we still had quite a bit, and then I provide calcium separately. Everyone just eats what they need and seem to be healthy and growing!

My Mama hen and chicks have integrated back into the flock smoothly!