Mama and Babies

Okay, so, the new chicks and their mother are quickly outgrowing the ferret cage we’ve had them in for three weeks now. Problem is, how do I safely integrate mama back into the flock with the little ones?

We’ve never let a broody hen raise chicks before so we are a little cautious about how we go about each step. In the past with new additions we’d just put them on the roost at night and let them hash it out the following day, adjusting the pecking order and such. I’m not sure how to do this with a protective mother hen. Will she actually keep her babies safe or will she say, “Sorry kiddos, you’re on your own!”

Now, I know that at three weeks they are a little young, but they are at the right age to start roosting and learning more about chicken life so I feel that it is the best time to get them out of confinement and into the flock. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to them because they are just so darn cute. Okay, so they really look a bit haggard as they are somewhere between fluffy chick and slightly feathered bird. Still, they are little and I don’t want any of the older chicks to pick on them too much. A little is expected, just don’t want the pecking to be the death of them. Paranoid? Slightly.

So I posted my dilemma asking for advice on Backyard Chickens (http://backyardchickens.com/) and am hoping that someone has a good answer for me. In the mean time, I’ll just worry about them being all cramped up in their tiny chicken condo.