Should I separate chick from parent?

[Tiffy316]

I forgot to add pics of the new babies.

 

[Shezadandy]

I forgot to add pics of the new babies.

Yay!!! I'm glad the chick has siblings and a mom!

I usually give them 2-3 days from when the chicks hatch in the crate. Momma gets outside for a broody poop break to keep the crate as neat as possible, if she's enclosed in the crate.

Then if you have somewhere near the flock once the babies are in that 3-5 day mark where the flock can't get to the hen and chicks but everyone can see each other, that gives the babies time to develop awareness, figure out that momma hen has legs and moves!!! - always a surprise for them! --- and by then have developed the smarts to run from danger, i.e. if momma is mixing it up with a flock mate, the babies go off to the side instead of standing there waiting to be stepped on. By day 5-7 they've got this idea down.

Then I let them with the flock, keeping a close eye to see how everyone does. My flock is so used to seeing a hen and chicks that it's almost an eye-roll "this again!!" but sometimes the youngest in the group who haven't seen babies yet will be the most persistently curious. As long as no blood is drawn, even if there is a big dust-up- I let the hens work things out with themselves.

And there probably will be a couple of these kinds of incidents - momma has her raging hormones and is very protective, so even best friends may get the heave-ho.

As long as nobody is fixated on the chicks and it's not the same hen coming back over and again to fight mom, that's a success. I still give them their private section at night to make sure babies get enough water and food in the evening and first thing in the morning before they go outside with the flock for the day.

 

[Vicker]

I always separate the hen and chick/chicks from the flock and let her do the work. Once, we bought a few day old chicks and added to the hen and her single chick. She adopted them.

 

[catballou]

Anyway, I'm thinking about letting the mother raise it, even though I'm worried about it. She's a first time mother and the nesting boxes are at least 2 ft high. I don't want it to get hurt ot killed.

You'd be better off just separating the hen and chicks, make a nest on the ground if need be and block off the nesting box. Put a milk crate sideways and put some bedding in it. If she rejects the chick, you need to get another one or two ASAP and raise them inside.

 

[Delmer_B]

I have a couple of old, large dog kennel that I will put mama and chicks in for about 7-8 days. Keep them feed and water. After about 5 days, I will let them out in the coop for a couple of hours with all doors closed and all other chickens out. This gives chicks plenty of time to build up strength and bond with mama. For about 2 weeks after that, I will lock mama and babies up in the kennels at night. For the blue, travel kennel, I cut the top in half, but kept both parts so that we can secure mama and babies at night. The wire kennel is big enough to hold 6 adult chickens, so plenty of room for mama and chicks.

 

[susan6sw]

I have a fairly large coop and a smaller one. When I notice a broody hen, I wait until night and relocate the hen in the dark to the smaller coop if she is not there already. Then I carefully put the eggs into a flat basket and set them in the new coop just s the hen arranged them. Then I leave them. This has worked for me with my buff orpingtons. The new family stay in the closed coop until the chicks are ready to join the rest of the flock who seem to accept them because they can watch them grow in the wired enclosure. One of my hens hatched 3 duck eggs and treated them as her very own. They gravitate toward chickens and not the ducks but still do duck things. They still defer to "mom".

 

[Tiffy316]

Mama and baby are doing well so far. They're in a segregation cage and seem to be happy. The baby is almost completely feathered out, but still tiny. Her siblings didn't make it, so it's just the very first chick to hatch and her momma.

 

[Shezadandy]

Mama and baby are doing well so far. They're in a segregation cage and seem to be happy. The baby is almost completely feathered out, but still tiny. Her siblings didn't make it, so it's just the very first chick to hatch and her momma.

Awesome! It seems like single chicks stay with mom for longer than average - and once she is weaned, you'll want to keep a special eye out since she doesn't have any same age siblings to lean on when momma bird moves on. Hopefully it goes smoothly!