how long should i keep mamma hen with her chicks

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blueseal

blueseal

Crowing
11 Years
Jul 3, 2008
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WALDOBORO MAINE
my broody hen hatched 3 chicks they will be a week old tommorow. she is being a good mother . i have the chicks and her in a large dog crate. i have a seperate pen outside that they will be going in as soon as i get it setup. my question is how long will she mother them before she gets tired of them.
 
Yay! Congrats! You can remove the chicks from their mother at any time. I have hatched out my own (no mother present) and bought day-olds. So they will be fine, as long as they have a warm place with some food and water easily accessible. As for how long will she mother them, that depends on the breed, I think. My Silkie hens ditched their chicks as soon as they hatched. The Silkie roosters kept them warm at night by covering them with their wings and sitting on them.

Just make sure that if you separate them, it's warm enough! We've been having 36 degree nights, which I doubt would be be good for a week old chick.
 
If you want her to raise them for you, which I reccommend, she should stop mothering them when they have at least feathered in. Our first broodies waited until 6 weeks + but our Nutmeg (her first brood) ditched the chicks at 4 -5 weeks. Only after she taught them how to do all the chicken things including roosting. She had them roosting under her feathers at 3 weeks, cutest picture ever! I'll see if I can find it

Edit: Fails to upload to backyardchickens, bummer
 
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We had several hatches from our extra broody bantams. It was approximately 5-6 weeks when the mommas had enough. But the babies were ready to fend for themselves. They had almost had enough of all the mothering aslo. But, It was so sad, in a sense- the mommas ( we had 4 sharing sitting and baby duties) all went up on the roost one night and left the babies to sleep in the corner





It was a great joy watching the mommas with the babies. You will see- everyone should get the opportunity.
 

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