Separating mum from chicks

[kathyd]

Hi

We have a mother hen and 6 chicks - hatched for someone else, so they need to go back soon. The chicks are coming up 7 weeks old now, but neither chicks nor mum are showing any signs of wanting to separate. Is there a 'natural' age at which they'd normally just drift apart, or do I have to be brutal and remove the mother hen?

Minor problem is that the chick pen and run are within the bigger one, so they can always see and hear each other. I've separated them for a few minutes twice now, but mum just gets frantic. I've probably also made a rod for my own back, but I've been letting her take the into the big run at times, and the mother seems intent on getting them integrated with the rest of the flock ... advice please! Thx.

[roitelet]

I always leave the chicks with Mum until they are fully fledged and by that time Mum is loosing interest.

[OverWyreGrower]

My mum and chicks were in the 'big' run with the rest of the flock by about 8 weeks... the chicks gradually got further and further away from mum until one night, she left them in their little house and went to sleep with everyone else. I recently gave away the cockerels from the hatch when they were 11 weeks old. Mum never even noticed they'd gone.

The remaining female chicks just hang around with everyone else now... granted, they are bottom of the pecking order, but they are fine

[frias]

My hen was still looking after her chicks when they were 6 weeks old. By 8 weeks old they were seen as the opposition and she had first rights to the food. I'm sure any day now mum will decide they are all grown up!

[Nicos]

I always leave the chicks with Mum until they are fully fledged and by that time Mum is loosing interest.

Same here.
- especially as they need to cuddle up together at bedtime now that the nights are getting nippy/frosty.

[jessmorris]

The mother will lose interest and gradually drift away. They might still like to come together at night though if they're not fully fledged yet...

[kathyd]

Thanks for all the replies guys . Could you maybe define 'fully fledged' for me...

I'm just getting worried I suppose a) because they're beginning to develop personalities, and I don't want to get attached to them and b) they've become better escape artists than Houdini, and I'm finding them all over the place including the veg garden and beside the farmer's field.. neither place protected or in view of the house, and often without their mum because they've got out of a hole too small for her. I don't just want to box them up and send them off at say 8 weeks old if they're not ready to go, but I don't want to keep them indefinitely either - I need an end in sight!

[Nicos]

I can understand your concern kathy

Are the chicks fully feathered?

[kathyd]

Hi Nicos

Well.. they're all covered with feathers, and are showing definite patterns now rather than just being balls of fluff. They're quite good at flying, although I've not examined their wing feathers in detail because I can't catch them very easily! (Deliberately not been handling them very much). There are certainly no bald patches, and they look better covered than some of my adult birds which seem to be moulting. Again. *sigh *. So apart from a couple of tatty tails, I'd say they're probably fully feathered - but remember, this is my first experience with chicks so I may be misjudging.

[RichmondHens]

It will be fine to separate them now, and the broody will forget about them in a few days, chickens have very short memories. She will probably be bullied for a little while when reintroduced to the flock again, but this is normal and the pecking order will sort itself out in a few days.

[kathyd]

It will be fine to separate them now, and the broody will forget about them in a few days, chickens have very short memories. She will probably be bullied for a little while when reintroduced to the flock again, but this is normal and the pecking order will sort itself out in a few days.

Thx RH. I'll contact the chick's owner and find out when she can collect them - or more likely when I can take them back to her anyway.