Mama leaving 5 week old chicks

[Gilly6]

Hi all I’m new to this. We have a small flock of 4 hens one went broody so we got some fertile eggs and had 3 beautiful chicks. After 2 weeks mama hen worked out how to open the pen and took them outside. But took them back in at night. She has done a brillient job as they are now 5 week old. Two days ago we noticed she took them in the coop and nestled them down in a nesting box. Today she has begun leaving them for long periods and going back to the flock. Chicks are not happy with this. The lead hen has starting pecking at mama hen and she lies down and takes it. I’m concerned that the chicks are to young to be without mama hen
Am I overthinking this. HELP

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's about the age most hens will wean them. My hen just abandoned her 2 chicks at about 6 weeks. They are doing fine in my flock. I would see how it goes.

 

[Gilly6]

Oh Thankyou for replying. I’m hoping they will be okay.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC!
We are glad you joined our flock!

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[drumstick diva]

You may want to partition off an area in the coop and run, so there is wire separating the youngsters from the oldies. That will prevent them from being attacked and after a time the older birds will start ignoring them hopefully. Then you can give the chicks some time with the older birds while you supervise them.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

 

[BirdGirl2004]

First and foremost...! I hope that you enjoy this site as much as the rest of us do! I have learned SOOO much from this site, and I hope that you do too! I would make a "touch but don't see pen" for the little chicks, to make sure they get acclimated to the rest of the chickens. They should be completely feathered, or at least close! They should be okay! When you do go to put the in the coop with the other birds for good, I would do it at night!
Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hello and welcome to BYC. You have some good advice above.

This is a useful link relating to guides to read through - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/website-announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3/?prefix_id=3


You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find your State's thread.

Best wishes

Pork Pie