At what age should I take chicks from their mother?

[cackle]

I have 6 4 week old RIR and mutt chicks that were hatched out by my silkies. The pen they are in is a bit small for the 4 silkies and the 6 4 week old chicks. At what age can I move them without everyone getting too upset? They are very protective of these chicks.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Since the mother is still protecting them, she'll continue to protect them if put in with the other adults. Give it a closely-monitored try and see how it goes. Most birds won't bother a mother hen after getting taught the lesson once or twice to stay away from the babies.

 

[ruth]

The mamas are going to get upset if you move them. Can't you just let them out and let them join the rest of the flock? I turn my motherless babies loose to join the flock and freerange at 1-2 weeks old when it's warm and I don't interfere at all with the broodies and their babies and they have them out running around the farm at a day or two old, amongst the rest of the 200+ flock and there hasn't been a loss yet.

 

[cackle]

They are with the flock. The silkie flock is only 4 birds and they have a house in a 10x10 kennel. It just seems like there is not a lot of room for 10 birds. For four it works fine. The layer chicks will be as big as the silkies in a week or two at the rate they are growing.

My layers are in a 8x8 coop with a 30x40 run. They have lots of room to roam. And we let them free range for 2 or 3 hours every evening. The silkies and the layers are in the same area during that time but they really don't seem to have anything to do with each other. The layers will chase the silkies off when you throw out scratch but that is about their only interactions.