new chicks with older chicks?

[Hytekrednek]

I have one hen that hatched out 3 chicks and is being a great momma hen. The 3 chicks are about a month old. I also ordered 8 more chicks of various types, these are about 2 weeks old.
The 3 and mom are in a 12x12 dog pen that is wrapped and covered with chicken wire. The new 8 are in a large plastic box/brooder for now.
Can I put the 8 newer with the 3 and mom? If so how? I put one new chick in to see how things went. Mom hen chased and pecked it, so I quickly removed it back to the brooder. Perhaps I can let mom off of baby sitting duty, remove her from pen, and just have chicks in the pen?
Open to ideas and suggestions.

 

[rosemarythyme]

There's a chance that the mama will attack the younger chicks in order to defend her brood. It's very unlikely she'll try to adopt them.

You'd probably be best off waiting to introduce the younger ones to the older three once she weans her babies (at that point you can remove her) but I would not remove her right now.

 

[Hytekrednek]

thanks for the help and info.
How can I tell when she weans them? Pays less attention to them? Quits letting them sleep under her wings?

 

[rosemarythyme]

thanks for the help and info.
How can I tell when she weans them? Pays less attention to them? Quits letting them sleep under her wings?

She'll start ignoring them, then eventually begin chasing them away. Most hens will wean around maybe 5-8 weeks, but it can vary a lot from bird to bird, like as early as 3 weeks or it can go on for months.