How old are the chicks when you finially take them away from Momma?

[kuntrygirl]

I don't ever take the babies away from mama. Mama decides when she wants to separate herself from them. I let it happen naturally.

 

[jadell]

Quote:
I do the same thing. The mamas even keep my dogs at bay, and that says something for a couple of bird dogs. They don't go anywhere near the little dibbers.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

This is so interesting. I just posted on my blog about how my mama BO has started pecking the 8-week-old chicks and being VERY clear that she is DONE being anyone's mother.

Except that they still try to climb underneath her at night. They aren't giving up the fight easily. She is really, really tired of them!

 

[Beekissed]

Great pic!

She looks soooooo annoyed!

 

[they'reHISchickens]

We just grafted some newborns onto a recent black orp broody right in the coop. She took them nicely and now we don't have to worry about integration or protecting them. No one fools with a mama hen. It's just not a wise thing. She sleeps in a corner on the floor with them.
Princess's clutch are almost as big as she is and haven't been following her for a month. But last night she chased a stray cat 200 feet down the road! She is obviously still protective.
Our broodies usually start returning to lay and regular life at about 8 weeks after hatching. Some are earlier and some later. By that time the babies are good size and are their own miniflock. If we had them in a different coop the babies roost in that coop and mama returns to the main flock.
What we want to know is how the young ones learn to lay in the main coop when they have never *lived* there! We have one doing it now!

 

[Jasmine1998]

When momma hen started to get very restless (at about 5-6 weeks) I started to integrate them back into the flock. At first I just let everyone free range together - no special treats for them.....I learned this when one of my adult barred rocks decided to try to bite the head off of one of the babies because she did not want to share the water melon. At night time, mom & babies went back to their coop & the other adults to thier own. After about a week, I then started to put my most docile hen in the coop at night with momma hen & the babies. After a few days of this working, I added another hen. I will keep doing this till I get them all together. I will add the most dominant hens last. The rooster does not seem to care about the babies either. He just ignores them.

 

[jadell]

If you let them all stay together from the start, there's no problem. As long as your coop's big enough. I've got plenty of room, and the Mommas handle the other chickens just fine. As for how they learn to lay in the coop, I think they just lay where they see other eggs. They naturally look for a dark, covered, and out of the way spot. When they see other eggs in the boxes, they just add to them.

 

[stormylady]

Hi, well i did as suggested. I let them all out to free range together, well I did it alittle different, I put Zues (top Roo) out to meet the chicks, and he was great , he checked them out and then decided he had better things to do with his time, so far so good, Then Uno who gets along with everybody, then sugar (EE) who is just a touch noisy, she and Momma had words, but Momma Diamond stood up to her and so sugar never even looked at the chicks though, Then I let out some more of the hen, and my 17 week old SS chicks still no problems, THEN I let out alll the others including Marta (Top Hen) SHE chased and picked on the babies almost the whole time, I stayed after her all day! Finially, toward the end of the outing she started to calm down and just kept making Momma move out of the dusting spot Momma had found, I don't think she really wanted the spot because she would just dust bathe for a couple of seconds and walk over and kick Momma out of the new spot, but over all I think that it went way better than I was expecting, were going to do this for about a week or so before I put them together permenantly, depending on how it goes, it might take a few more days or maybe a few less but were well on our way!

Thanks everybody you've been a great help! Sandy

PS I think Diamond fell in love with Zues! She tried to hang with him the whole time and squating down for him too, He never tried to mount her but he never chased her off either. He LIKES being King I think. LOL

 

[kareninthesun]

Quote:
I LOVE this pic. Need it hanging in my kitchen to remind me that toddlers aren't the only ones whom hang on Mom when she's trying to get things done, or need ONE MORE drink of water, one more story, one more check under the bed and in the closet for monsters, and a quick touch before running off to explore the world.

I remember when my daughter was old enough to express herself with words. We'd had a wonderful winter break where I'd stay in my warmest winter robe in the early mornings. Trying to edit material on the laptop, my early riser would always beat the sun up, crawl up on my bed, knowing I'd be sitting crosslegged. Both of us in pjs and socks and robes, she'd wait until I lifted the laptop to hover over her head, comfynize (its a word, trust me, you don't have to look it up : ) ) my long robe and settle down. She sized this morning ritual up nicely,"Mama, its a nest for me."

I'm guessing that the world must sometimes still look a bit larger than the walls of the coop for chicks who's hearts remain connected to this Mom. If human, bet she'd be celebrating Mother's Day like the Queen she is!