![]() Dumb, dumb, dumb broody! Anyway, when this happened, the rooster would go to the chicks that were separated and lay down, watching them. I had one broody that did this several times that I saw her and she only had 4 chicks. None of them had any concept of go to the gate. The result was the Mama was on one side of the fence and several of her chicks were on the other side. I have had the situation where a Mama hen went out of a gate and turned back along the fence before all the chicks follower her out. I have never seen a rooster discipline a chick for invading its personal space. Many people think roosters are a big danger to chicks. The older hen is really insulted by this young intruder not leaving her personal space and really goes after the chick. Another risk is that the chick is trapped against a fence or in a corner and cannot get away. It is not intended to injure the chick and usually it does not, but it can injure or kill the chick. Where the danger comes in in all this is that the discipline peck is a hard peck delivered by a much bigger hen to a small chick. ![]() I guess it takes a flock to teach a chick proper etiquette. This is a different situation than a hen seeking out to destroy a chick. The chick runs and flaps back to Mama as fast as it can go. Sometimes the older chicken will ignore the young intruder, but sometimes it pecks the chick to remind it that it has broken the proper chicken etiquette by daring to eat with its betters. I have seen a two week old chick leave Mama's protection and go stand by a grown chicken at the feeder and eat. Where all this relates to the chicks is that the chicks are definitely lower in the pecking order. The incident is over with and life is again peaceful in the flock. If the higher ranking chicken feels insulted that this lower ranking chicken would invade its personal space (They do not always react this way, just when they feel they need to enforce discipline) the higher ranking chicken pecks the lower ranking chicken, the lower ranking chicken immediately realizes it breached etiqutte, and runs away in shame. Chicken etiquette requires that a chicken lower in the pecking order does not invade the personal space of another chicken higher in the pecking order without putting itself at risk. But a chicken higher in the pecking order has to defend her position or lose it. As long as they stay away from the other chickens, that is not a big deal. These young chicks are at the bottom of the pecking order. This does not mean the chicks are perfectly safe, but it does make Mama's life easier. Most flocks do not have chickens in them that will seek out and destroy young chicks. If they have enough room, most broodies will keep their chicks away from the flock most of the time to cut down on these chances for conflict. I don't think anyone can truly predict how yours will be. ![]() Most broodies have such a bad attitude that the other chickens soon learn to give them a wide berth, but not all broodies are good defenders. A good broody will defend her chicks and teach the aggressive chicken some facts of life, whether it is a hen or rooster. It is almost always a hen but it is possible a rooster will do this. Some flocks have chickens in them that will seek out and destroy young chicks. The chicks still have to work out their own pecking order issues, but they have to do that anyway and that does not come into play until long after Mama has weaned them. To me that is worth all the other risk, but then I have a lot of space to work with. ![]() I personally prefer Mama to take care of their integration issues. We can give you our experiences both ways and maybe help you, but it is ultimately your decision. No one can tell you how your chickens will react to the situation. They are living animals with their own personality. I think how much room Mama has to work with is an important issue, but there are other things involved. There are risks and advantages both ways. Some people, for good reasons, separate the broody and her chicks from the flock. Hens have been raising chicks with the flock for thousands of years, even before they were domesticated. ![]()
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