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!

 

[CloudlessKimmy]

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.

Sorry older post but it's very relevant to me now! My chick is 4 days old and I was wondering the same thing. That being said, my hens unalived a chick while it was hatching while mom was eating prior to putting her in the safe crate. So I'm really hesitant to let the baby chick out at all amount the other hens. Any advice?

 

[Gardenchicken19]

Happy to help! Our chick hatched march 12 and by the 25th we let her and mom be out with the flock full time, so not even 2 weeks! Mom protected her like crazy. She showed her how to eat and everything. In 2 days the chick will be 6 weeks old (counting by Wednesdays) and she’s doing great! Mom has since gone back to laying eggs and isn’t as interested in the chick anymore but the chick is now fast enough to get away if someone is pecking it. For the first little bit mom was sleeping in the best box with her and then we started to see mom teaching her to jump up on stuff, we went down one night to check on them and mom and chick were roosting! She did a great job. I would say go with your gut. Mom was showing me she didn’t want to be In the brooder anymore and she did a good job and the others left her alone so we felt good about it! Good luck, I hope it goes as well for you!

 

[CloudlessKimmy]

Happy to help! Our chick hatched march 12 and by the 25th we let her and mom be out with the flock full time, so not even 2 weeks! Mom protected her like crazy. She showed her how to eat and everything. In 2 days the chick will be 6 weeks old (counting by Wednesdays) and she’s doing great! Mom has since gone back to laying eggs and isn’t as interested in the chick anymore but the chick is now fast enough to get away if someone is pecking it. For the first little bit mom was sleeping in the best box with her and then we started to see mom teaching her to jump up on stuff, we went down one night to check on them and mom and chick were roosting! She did a great job. I would say go with your gut. Mom was showing me she didn’t want to be In the brooder anymore and she did a good job and the others left her alone so we felt good about it! Good luck, I hope it goes as well for you!

Thank you for that information! Did you at any point leave the door to the crate open to let them mingle? I'm a little unsure of how to go about letting them out when the time comes.

 

[Gardenchicken19]

Thank you for that information! Did you at any point leave the door to the crate open to let them mingle? I'm a little unsure of how to go about letting them out when the time comes.

I started bringing mom and chick out when it was warm enough and stayed down there with them. At night they would go back in the brooder in the coop. After a few days of that I let them stay out with everyone but I made it so the brooder door was open just enough so the chick could get in if they were bothering her. There was also chick food and water in there, I did also have a side door I’d leave open and put it on an angle to where mom and chick were sleeping in the best box. Eventually the others started finding it but all went well. I would just watch them all together and make sure there’s spots that the chick can tuck into that the others can’t get into incase they are going after it. Im still amazed at how easy it went when I just let mama do her thing. If we do it again next year I have no intentions of intervening at all unless I need to.