Should I separate hen and chicks?

[Tclloyd0812]

I have a hen that is sitting on about 10 fertile eggs right now. It's only day 3 so I'm not making major plans, but I would like to get advice on whether or not I should separate the hen and chicks when they hatch. I don't mean separate as in take the chicks from the mother, I mean move the hen and chicks into a separate area because we own emus. The emus that we own are still young but they don't usually accept chicks and/or other birds/animals until they're either fully grown/able to get away or if they get used to them. I know mama hens are protective but an emu could easily snatch a chick from her if she wasn't looking. Not to mention the other chickens/roosters we have (about 100 more) she would have to protect them from plus 2 livestock guardians that may try to "play" with the chicks if they got ahold of them.
I'm really thinking about separating mama hen and chicks when it comes time but allowing the other chickens to see them and interact so they don't mess with them when they come out.
I don't have much experience with a hen raising her chicks so I'd like advice on this, even if you don't own emus and can't say whether or not she could protect the chicks from them.

 

[Chickassan]

Yes, you should give mom and babies their own area even if you didn't have emus.
Mom isn't going to be the best company for anyone else except her babies, honestly I'd worry for the poor emus mama hens are nuts lol!

 

[DobieLover]

I've never prevented a hen from bringing her chicks into the flock when she is ready. She is never fully isolated from the flock during incubation. But no chicken is going to be a match for an Emu. The rest of the flock will likely show no aggression to the chicks. I've never had another flock member show aggression towards chicks.

 

[Chickassan]

To clarify, I'm only talking about the first few days and only from the emus because they might mistake something so small for food.
She should be allowed to go out into her flock when she's ready and she will present a presence that should keep any and all chickens from thinking about touching a chick.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

Yes, you should give mom and babies their own area even if you didn't have emus.
Mom isn't going to be the best company for anyone else except her babies, honestly I'd worry for the poor emus mama hens are nuts lol!

Thank you!!!

 

[Tclloyd0812]

To clarify, I'm only talking about the first few days and only from the emus because they might mistake something so small for food.
She should be allowed to go out into her flock when she's ready and she will present a presence that should keep any and all chickens from thinking about touching a chick.

I didn't think about that, good idea. I may just let her raise them separate for about a week and then see what happens.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

I've never prevented a hen from bringing her chicks into the flock when she is ready. She is never fully isolated from the flock during incubation. But no chicken is going to be a match for an Emu. The rest of the flock will likely show no aggression to the chicks. I've never had another flock member show aggression towards chicks.

Thank you! I think I will see what happens with the emus.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

My hen is raising chicks within the flock and it's all good. But I wouldn't really trust the emus