Broody hen and chick

[Gardenchicken19]

I hope this is the right place to post, I’m sorry if it’s not. One of our 6 month old hens just went broody in the middle of February. A few days later on my daughter’s Birthday she was gifted some fertilized eggs. We really were not getting our hopes up since it was beyond freezing that week and mama was so young. Fast forward 21 days, (on my husband’s birthday) a little chick hatched. My daughter named her gift because it was a huge part of both her and her dad’s birthday and the little chick is a gift! We ended up removing the other eggs and placing them in the incubator because once the chick was hatched mama was stressed and I’d find eggs in different places and chilly. In the end we only got the one chick. She’s very very special to us so we are trying so hard to keep her alive. My question is, what now? Mama and chick are in a dog crate in the coop doing great. I’m hoping we did the right thing by using the dog crate so the flock can get used to the chick but mama and chick are also protected. I have watched countless YouTube videos and googled many things to try to find out how long to keep them separated. I’ve read anything from 7 days to 4 months and my head is spinning. Please tell me all your tips, we are desperate.

Thank you so much for reading this far!

 

[Yardmom]

Personally I let Mom enter the flock before 7 days. The longer you wait the more mom has to work at reestablishing herself with the flock. Generally other hens ignore chicks.
The amount of space you have for mom and baby and the personality of your hens need to be considered when deciding to release a broody and baby into the flock.

 

[Gardenchicken19]

Thanks! We started letting them roam with the flock while we supervise and they’ve done great!