Unexpected chicks in general population

[VCBirdmom]

I knew that two of my young Silky hens had gone broody, but a project I was engrossed in kept me from acting on that knowledge. Time has flown, and I came home last night to the news that one chick has hatched from each mother. I bought 8 Silkys last spring, and now have at least 4 roosters in the coop with the hens, and new 2 day old chicks. What should I do? I'm fearful for the safety of the babies, still have more eggs under the moms. Should I take the babies away from the moms to put them under heat lights? Maybe set the 2 moms up with their eggs and babies in another enclosure. Don't know what is best to do. Help, please.

 

[L1sa]

Don't take the babies away from the mums. Broody mummas make the best heat lamps in the world!! Mum should be able to raise the chicks in the GP with no problem, Especially as they are all Silkies!! just keep an eye on them. Roosters are not usually any problem with chicks either, in fact they tend to protect them. If they can integrate into the flock at this young age, it's far better than trying to introduce older birds.

You will need to switch the whole flock on to a chick starter for a few weeks, but that's no problem and won't do anyone any harm.

Make sure they have places to run and hide so they can get away when they are being chased, my 4 week old babies can just fit down the side of one of the coops, so they spend a fair bit of the day down there!! But it is beautiful watching them intermingle with the grown ups, Just enjoy watching them grow.

Here's a bit of my little set up, you can see the babies at the back and they were about 2 weeks old here.