OK, so we are not there yet, but as soon as one of the pullets go broody, I am ordering babies. (We want them to be raised by her, not us for a ton of reasons). Some people say to separate the mom and the new chicks until they are basicly grown or the other hens will pick on the babies. Fair enough, however, I am thinking about farms with chickens, and I am SURE that farmers who always seem to have some babies hatching, don't sequester that mom and her babies--- they just go into the coop with the others and the mom defends them if the others start picking, right?
Obviously, in the wild (we will use ducks or other fowl here) they would be part of the flock, not on their own. It seems that this would help them integrate smoother, as well. I am all for separating them for the first few days, but feel that all in all, it might be more "natural" and certainly easier in the long run for them to be all together, and as spoiled as my babies are, it seems that sometimes we "over-engineer" things so they are perfect....... thoughts on this from you chicken experts out there???
Obviously, in the wild (we will use ducks or other fowl here) they would be part of the flock, not on their own. It seems that this would help them integrate smoother, as well. I am all for separating them for the first few days, but feel that all in all, it might be more "natural" and certainly easier in the long run for them to be all together, and as spoiled as my babies are, it seems that sometimes we "over-engineer" things so they are perfect....... thoughts on this from you chicken experts out there???