Take baby chicks from mom or no?

[HELPPLS]

I have 11 baby chicks that I let a Black Australorp hatch. They are a week old. I have 13 more that we bought that are 1 1/2 week or so old. The baby chicks we hatched are not from our chickens no more than the 13 are other than she hatched them. My issue is I was trying to put them all together so that they grow up together. Mama hen was fine with this at first but through the day she started beating them up and won't let them eat. I would really like all of the babies raised together. We only have 6 hens now and the 24 new chicks. I don't want to try to integrate 3 sets of chickens later on. So do I take them away from mom and bring them inside for a few days until she is over it or keep them separate until she decides she is done? That could take weeks and they are taking up the area we built for babies. Right now I have a large plastic pool inside. It had the 13 bought ones in it until today. Sorry this is so long. Thanks for any help.

 

[Judy]

A mama hen is programmed to raise her chicks, not to add extras, and anything else will be upsetting to her. This usually only lasts around six weeks or so, then you can mix the chicks with each other and with the flock, gradually and keeping sizes relatively similar. Mama hens usually show signs of stress when their chicks are removed. I've always felt it's best to let them do what comes naturally, or as close as possible to that.

 

[HELPPLS]

Thank you. I'm going to try to wait it out. I don't know if 13 chicks can stay in a big blue pool for 6 weeks. I hope so though. Thanks so much.

 

[Judy]

Any way you could integrate mom and chicks with the adults now? This usually works fine if done when the chicks hatch. If they were mine, I think I'd give it a try now.

 

[HELPPLS]

I thought about it. I was hoping to integrate all of the babies at one time. Instead of having two different times to do it. I wanted all of the babies raised together since there are more of them and less of the current flock. We have 24 chicks and only 6 hens. I just thought it might be less fighting later on if I raised them together. I have a sick baby chick now and am now trying to figure out the best route for that. It starting wheezing and sneezing. It drank some water really fast yesterday and then blew it out of its mouth or nose ( I couldn't tell) and started all of this since then. I don't know if it sucked water up its nose or what but I have it in a separate box. It is breathing kind of rough and sneezing but the wheezing stopped. It is a very unhappy baby being all alone and seems to be stressing it out more. I don't know whether to put it back in with the others and hope for the best or keep it in the box until....whenever. I am still too new at this and its stressful. They are like my little babies. Anyway, I got off subject. The point is now I have to keep them separate in case there is something going on with the ones we bought. None of the others are showing any signs of any trouble but I'm going to wait it out. Thanks for your help. I do believe mama and babies could go in with the others but I don't know if I should wait until she has weaned them and then put them in with the others. Let all the babies bond first and then turn them all out into the coop with the big girls or just do mom and babies now and the ones we bought later. This is soooo stressful on top of everything else we have going on. Thanks for any help.

 

[judielu]

Just joined group. We have 6 babies. The mom has been taking care of them. We also have 5 small breed dogs (the largest is a Snauzer). The dogs were going after the chickens. Put the babies into a roomy cage with a solid bottom so they wouldn't fall through. Also put mama in with them. Then we put the cage in the garage so the dogs couldn't get near them. We have baby chick food and a water system made for babies. Should we leave the mom in with them or let her in and out. The chickens have a coop but they basically go where they want in the yard. About 1/2 the two acres. We have never had baby chicks before and want to give them a good start. My fiend has scolded the dogs but other than that, don't know what to do. Any advice. Are they okay in the cage until they get big enough to protect themselves.