Roosters & baby chicks

[chickenlady0309]

Hi! So about 8 weeks ago our hen hatched 12 chicks! So this was a little unexpected, and we hadn’t done any research about our rooster and the chicks, so we put our rooster in a second cage right next to our hen and her chicks. Since then we have built one big coop hoping all of them could stay together as a family, but we don’t know what our rooster will do to the chicks. We let the rooster and hen free range together with no problems, but we are wondering if he will know the chicks are his. Will the hen try to protect them in some way? And how should we introduce them? He can get aggressive towards us, he gets quite territorial but never aggressive towards our other hens while free ranging.

 

[Shadrach]

Are the chicks the roosters?
He will know. The hen may be protective and not let the rooster near them, I've had very different approaches by various hens.
The rooster will try to check the chicks are his. He bends his neck until his head is very close to the chick and may stay like that for 20 seconds or so, if mum lets him get that close. If mum doesn't let the rooster close and the rooster doesn't force the issue then again, I would let them mix. The introductions will come later.
I have never had a rooster assault a chick.
I would let them all mix and stay close and watch. It's the only way to find out if there's a problem.
The quicker the rooster gets to know his chicks the better in my view, especially if they free range together.
What you do need to watch out for is the other hens, especially if the hen with the chicks isn't the senior hen.
Others may think differently
I need to clarify something. I've just re-read your post.
I wouldn't separate the rooster and mum and chicks from the rest of the flock.
I would do the introductions free range. If the hen won't let the rooster near, then she can move away with the chicks and the rooster can join the other hens.
What tends to happen here (free range) is the hen spends some time very protective of the chicks and wont let anyone near. This is normal. Eventually the hen lets the rooster see the chicks. Each hen is different. I have a hen here now with one chick and she hatched the chick in the coop that the rooster lives in. The hen was out with the chick, and the rooster, and the other hens on day 4.

 

[chickenlady0309]

Are the chicks the roosters?
He will know. The hen may be protective and not let the rooster near them, I've had very different approaches by various hens.
The rooster will try to check the chicks are his. He bends his neck until his head is very close to the chick and may stay like that for 20 seconds or so, if mum lets him get that close. If mum doesn't let the rooster close and the rooster doesn't force the issue then again, I would let them mix. The introductions will come later.
I have never had a rooster assault a chick.
I would let them all mix and stay close and watch. It's the only way to find out if there's a problem.
The quicker the rooster gets to know his chicks the better in my view, especially if they free range together.
What you do need to watch out for is the other hens, especially if the hen with the chicks isn't the senior hen.
Others may think differently
I need to clarify something. I've just re-read your post.
I wouldn't separate the rooster and mum and chicks from the rest of the flock.
I would do the introductions free range. If the hen won't let the rooster near, then she can move away with the chicks and the rooster can join the other hens.
What tends to happen here (free range) is the hen spends some time very protective of the chicks and wont let anyone near. This is normal. Eventually the hen lets the rooster see the chicks. Each hen is different. I have a hen here now with one chick and she hatched the chick in the coop that the rooster lives in. The hen was out with the chick, and the rooster, and the other hens on day 4.

Thank you for the help! Unfortunately the rooster and mama hen never got along with the other hens in the coop, so we had to separate them when everyone was younger. They free range together just fine, but the coop is where we get problems for some reason. Thank you again!