Reintegrating broody and chicks with the flock?

[elmdene]

I have 3 hens, a cockerel and now 3 seven week old chicks - all pekins. The mother (Sybil) has been in a separate henhouse since she went broody. She started laying again last week and now free ranges most of the day with the other grown-ups, as do the chicks until they get tired out and flop down somewhere.
The problem is that I am going to be away quite a bit over the next few weeks (the longest period will be for a week) so they won't be able to free range and will have to remain shut in to their separate houses - Sybil with the chicks in one house and Basil with his other 2 girls in the other. This is a shame as I don't want to have to go through the reintegration process all over again. I have thought about putting them all in together but Myrtle still takes a peck at the chicks when she thinks I'm not looking and is quite dominant over Sybil so worry it will end in a bloodbath if I'm not there. Also it will generate huge amounts of poo! :lol:
Not sure what to do - should I put Sybil back with the grown-ups and have the chicks by themselves? I still think they need their mum to cuddle up to though. Should Sybil be perching at night now rather than sitting in a nest box with the chicks? Also is it ok for Sybil to eat only growers pellets for a week? Also...the grown-ups seem to prefer the growers and chick crumbs and are always sneaking in and eating the chicks food, and the chicks sneak in and eat the layers pellets - is this ok??
Any advice would be reassuring!

Later...I'm feeling like an awful mum - I've opened up the top part of the ark where Sybil and the chicks have been living (previously they were in a box on the ground). Sybil went up early, parked herself on the perch and totally ignored the chicks who were all down below, peeping away madly. They finally found their way up the ramp and tried desperately to burrow underneath her, even though she was perching. I thought of taking the perch out but Sybil seems to want it. Hoping the chicks will be warm enough....

 

[Chuck]

If you are not going to be there to sort things out, I'd definately leave mother and chicks in one house and the otheres in another. That way there is no chance of the chicks being damaged. Any problems of integration will need to be sorted when you return.

The hen perching is natural behaviour and the chicks wanting to snuggle up is natural but they will need to become independant, nothing to worry about.

 

[animartco]

I agree. Never a good idea to put chicks with other hens if you aren't around to supervise. And there is always a slightly dangerous time when the mother first forces the chicks up to perch. But it is part of their growing up and has to be done.
Having said this, some mothers do try to force the chicks up too early. If you find a mother still sitting on a perch when it's almost dark and the chicks still calling frantically below you may have to knock the mother off the perch and make sure she is brooding them. But they will call for a while before flying up to join the mother, so wait until you know they definitely are not going to make it.

 

[chrismahon]

If mummy is still happy being with them leave them separate but together. Its getting cold in the evenings now so they will need some heat. Wouldn't contemplate mixing them in until they can look after themselves -say 6 months old. Mother can go back before that- in fact she will start to loose interest in them soon and want to go back to the flock.

 

[E3lx]

agree
I have some incubated chicks, all the hens were ranging and the chicks were in a run, its quite an old run, and the latch has always been faulty, so when i went to check on the chickens in the afternoon, these little chicks were roaming around with their parents ( who didnt know they had children) the old ones totally ignored the little ones.

 

[daniellesdogs]

mine always go straight in with the big chickens as soon as mum wants out normally 4/5 days but only fue mins at a time with me watching.
the only worries i have is zeolus wants to mate mums as soon as poss and any other broodies can get funny the other girls and the ducks are fantastic

 

[Bertie & The Chooks]

If they have their new feathers and are agile enough to get into the hutch with mum I would go for it. If they are fine together now I would leave them be. We left ours and had a few scraps and chicks being left out a couple nights but they all soon settled on their own with no intervention from us.
the first few nights the chicks were very confused and stayed out pretty late til the mum shouted for them and they worked out where she was, they hopped up and slept under her for the night.

what will be will be. If the chicks are meant to keep up and stay strong you have to let nature take its course if they aren't fit! they wouldn't be separated in the wild, the mum and cockerel should sort out the scraps and the chicks need to be pecked and pushed to learn the groups hierarchy. I would try not to worry so much and don't intervene. just my opinion though.

Ours were born in late May and went in with the group as soon as they had full feather and could hop up the ladder to the hutch(late June/July). We've left them since with no problems other than the little possible cockerel being left on the ladder over night! lol to which he was fine and went in the next night.

 

[Anonymous]

We've always had our broodies in a small house in a fenced off part of the main chicken run. That way when the hen & chicks start venturing outside they can see/be seen by the rest of our flock & while they're all seperate they can still interact with each other a bit. Seems to work - our youngest chicks are 2 weeks old & their mum has been demanding to be let out of their run these last few days. Have started letting them out to free-range with the others & no problems so far. While the mum & chicks spend a lot of the time doing their own thing they're never too far away from the others & seem to be gradually building up on the amount of time they spend with the main flock. We also have a Silkie with a 6-7 week old chick - did the same with them & they're now all settled back into the main flock & I've now noticed the Silkie mum is just starting to distance herself from the chick (nothing drastic, just they tend to wander about seperately for short times, though they do still spend a lot of time together).