mama bird and chicks?

[janes flock]

One of my rir hens successfully hatched 6 chicks yesterday in my neighbors yard. I have the mother hen and baby separated from the rest of the flock. How long should I keep them seperate. When should I remove the hen? What behaviors should I be looking for? Thank you for any help.

 

[LRH97]

Basically, just let the momma hen do it herself. That's the beauty of a broody. She knows when to chase the kids off. Mine usually start this process when the babies are about 5-6 weeks old.

 

[centrarchid]

Make so she has a relatively secure ground level roost location that she can use to keep brood aware from concentrations of adults. I would also make so location can be closed up at night. My favorite way of handling hens is to provide them with a 5-gallon bucket layed on side with some straw or hay placed in it. Then place bucket near hen about dark and try to get her to use it. Most of my broody hens go right inside such when I put it next to them. Then try getting so entire bucket is protected from ground predators at night.

 

[janes flock]

Thank you very much