When does a mother hen leave her chicks???

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Brad26

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When does a mother hen leave her chicks???
« on: July 30, 2010, 22:32 »
Hi, I'm in my first year of chicken keeping and have 6 girls. One became broody so i decided to put some hatching eggs under her and got 4 little chicks one rhode island red and 3 barnevelders. I immediately got hold of a rabbit hutch and seperated mother hen and her chicks from the rest and just split the outside run in half although both chicks and mother hen do tend to either jump over the wire into the adults run or onto my newly laid turf but thats another problem, lol. The chicks are reaching 8 weeks old now and i've noticed that for the last 2 nights mother hen has decided to start sleeping in the adult house leaving the chicks in the hutch on they're own. I just want to know if this is about the usual time that a mother hen leaves her chicks to fend for themselves or not and when would be the right time to open up the run as one again and have the chicks sleep in the adult house with the others.

Many thanks in advance

Brad

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joyfull

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Re: When does a mother hen leave her chicks???
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2010, 23:30 »
mine have left them any time between 6 and 10 weeks old so yours will be fine to be on their own. The young ones I have aged 6 weeks are all in with the adults and have no problems. You will also find that mum will now start laying again now  :)
Staffies are softer than you think.

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Tazzy

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Re: When does a mother hen leave her chicks???
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2010, 08:52 »
Mine are now approaching 6 weeks and have been in the main coop with the other big girls for probably over a fortnight now, but have been mixing with them in the run almost from day 1. Mom still clucks over them, but I've noticed that they do range further and further from her each day so I do expect them to stay away from her before too long. Seems that mom will do as she pleases and ignores any advice from these forums  :lol:

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Brad26

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Re: When does a mother hen leave her chicks???
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2010, 11:52 »
Thanks for the info, yes i have noticed that mum has started laying again now. I'm a little bit tentative about letting them mix with the other big girls as when they have the lowest ranking girl has been chasing after them constantly.

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Tazzy

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Re: When does a mother hen leave her chicks???
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2010, 17:30 »
It should soon pass - some of mine are now 'allowed' to eat at the same time as the big girls, well until they get the evil eye  :lol: Just make sure that they don't get cornered as they could get injured.



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