Flock chick questions

[hmbrown05]

So I have two hens raising chicks currently. Three chicks are 3 weeks and 6 are four weeks. The hens nested close to each other and while they don't seem to be sharing mothering duties, they are tolerating each other's broods very well and roosting together in the barn they nested near. This is all a new experience to me and I am curious how to get them all integrated back with the rest of the flock and roosting in their coop at night so they are safer. They basically separated them selves.

Everyone free ranges during the day, but it appears that there is very little interaction between the broodies and the rest of the flock almost like the other birds know not to cross some mysterious boundary and vise versa with the broodies.

I have tried moving one of the hens with the older chicks into the coop after dark, but she just marched her chicks right back to the barn the very first thing the next morning :/ stuborn momma!

 

[chicmom]

Hens with chicks are very protective up to a point. They will take care of the chicks for a while, and then one day you'll start to notice that they hens have integrated back with the flock. The babies will probably kind of skirt around the edges for a while. Their size will make them a little bit vulnerable. But eventually they will blend in with the flock too. I wouldn't try and force them to get together just yet. If you need them back with your flock, and out of the barn, wait until they're bigger, because the chickens that are fully grown can hurt, or even kill the smaller ones.

I would just let things happen naturally if you can.