Reintroducing mamma and her new chicks

[tlcmama]

Okay so here's the problem:

A month ago I took broody girl and her 6 Trader Joe's eggs out of the coop and into a brooder box.
At the time she was one of the two Alpha hens.

Since she has been in a family way I have introduced the last of the spring pullets into the flock and they
have taken over the flock. Mamma's co-alpha hen is now one of the lower rung hens.

My plan was to put her and her chicks in a dog crate in the coop so they could do the see and not harm deal to reintroduce them to the flock. My concern is that she will not only have to find her place in the flock but also have to protect the chicks in the process.

Any thoughts on how to do this with as little feather loss as possible?

Thanks

 

[jak2002003]

I never remove the hen and chicks, I just let them raise them all together and have never had any problems. I have roosters, hens, and chicks of various ages all living together.

I don't think you need worry about you hen if she has chicks, because they get very aggressive and protective of their chicks. Even a hen higher the pecking order will soon learn to stay away from her.

I would put her in the dog crate, then they can all see each other, and the chicks will be about to go in and out of the crate through the gaps in the bars.

After a couple of days I would let her out. She most probably will make herself know to the other by attacking them if they get to close to her chicks.

I good thing about the crate is you can place the chick food in there and the chicks can hop in and out to eat, but the bigger chickens cant get to it.

Hope everything goes well!

 

[tlcmama]

Yeah, I probably should have left her in there but a bunch of peeps said I "had' to separate her so I did.
Now I have to reintegrate.
I'm a bit worried about the crate b/c the chicks can get out thru the bars but mamma can't and I don't want them where she cannot protect them.

I might put some extra fencing around the crate to keep them in for now. She is a feisty little hen. Hopefully she will keep order.