[Kathie]

Hi,  Mini ,our bantam has hatched a clutch which are six weeks old tomorrow.  When is it best to let her out and mix with the flock?  We found 2 eggs this morning, can anyone tell me if this is a sign she needs her freedom as her job is done?  Thanks in advance  Kathie

[fethoboy]

Hi. you can usually tell when the broody is fed up with them when she starts pecking them.i used to let my broody free range with the others but keep an eye open for them,in case there is any fighting,but i think they would be all right now.

steve.

[Kathie]

Thanks for that Steve, we are still unsure what to do, but I think she deserves a little peace now as some of them are almost the same size as her.

Thanks again
Kathie

[joyfull]

my broodies are always allowed out with their chicks when the chicks are just a couple of days old. I have never had any problem with integrating them.

[Kathie]

Hi Joyfull,
Mum and chicks have been out from the beginning as the coop has a fenced enclosure.  They have been moved to 2 different ones as they have grown and needed more space, then these are moved every few days on to fresh grass. 
Mum just seems to spend most of her time now looking at the others scratching their way around the garden.  Then just after we moved them today and were spending some quality time with them (lol we do it to check all is fine!) one, which we now presume is a little boy, has tried to tread his mum!!!

I feel the chicks are too young to free range but think we should let mum out.

[Kathie]

Sorry, just for clarification, we have about half an acre off a single track road, so very isolated from people but with plenty of company possible from wildlife including  buzzards, red kites and of course Mr Fox.  The older hens truly free range in the neighbouring paddocks so it would be impossible for us to let chicks join the flock until they reach around 14-16 weeks
Thanks again
Kathie

[Casey76]

Hi Kathie, my broody and her chick was out with the rest of the flock from a week old.  Mum protected her chick from the other hens.  Whent he chick was six weeks olf mum took herself off back to the main coop, leaving the chick to sleep on her own in the broody coop.

Neither seem distressed in this scenario.  The chick mixes with the big girls and boys, and is agile enough to get out of the way of any nastiness, but generally the other hens and pullets heave her alone.

Usually coming into lay again means that mum has done her job though, and that she is ready to go back to the others.

[Kathie]

Hi Casey76,
Oh my, this has been the first time we have let a broody hatch the eggs and I have found out so much but by making so many mistakes. However, now after 9 weeks I am beginning to feel so sorry for our Mini.
Thanks for your advice
Kathie

[joyfull]

he is too young to tread his mum, so I would assume he was just standing on his back - my little ones often do this - boys and girls. All my birds free range, if they get tired or cold then they will go back to mum and snuggle under her. At the moment wandering around with their mums I have 9 that were hatched in a hedgerow on the 12th June and 3 guinea fowl keets hatched on the 28th June. The Chicks were abandoned by their mum so another broody was given the job of raising them (they had only just hatched as one was quite sticky still and were wandering around looking for their mum) so were allowed out after 2 days with their surrogate - this was only to make sure she had taken to them properly), but normally I let them out as soon as mum looks out of the coup  .
However I only had to be aware of crows so keet them in their run until the crows have passed over and get them back in before 4pm when the crows make their way back, but with red kites and buzzards perhaps I would be a little bit more wary.

[Kathie]

Thanks again Joyful,
This has been a steep learning curve, most of it exceptionally enjoyable if a little stressful, we just want to do the best for everyone and being new to this we are a little over protective of the hens and chicks. 

Tonight we will design a new run with a gateway so that chicks are safe and mum can let us know if she wants to get to her babies, then get it up and running asap.

Thanks for all your advice
Kathie