I am a novice but this year I have had a total of 8 hens go broody. The first time it happened I separated the mama and chicks. This worked but Mama lost interest in the chicks after about 4 weeks so she ended up back in the coop with the others. I had to wait until the chicks hit about 14 weeks to integrate them into the flock. The second one that went broody, I left in the coop and made a partial shelter with wood and chicken wire around the broody's nest box so that the other hens couldn't get at the chick feed and the chicks had somewhere to retreat when they needed to get away from the big girls. However, mama and chicks could get out when they wanted to. What I learned is that the Mama is extremely protective for the first couple weeks and the others will stay away from her chicks. I was also impressed with the agility of these wee little chicks. They were up and down ladders with mom and in a couple weeks were up on the roost bar under her wings at night. I did have to help a couple of the chicks the first day they left the coop to get back in but the second night they had it figured out and were tucked under mama when I went up to close things at night. My advice, integrate while mama is still feeling protective. Once she loses interest, you are going to have to wait until the chicks are about the same size as the other hens so that they can defend themselves. Hope that helps and good luck!
Amy
