what age can chicks live away from with mother?

[HelenaJean]

i have a silkie hen and her two chicks living outside in a run. They're 6 days old at the moment and i'd like to raise them to be really friendly. To do this, i'm thinking of taking the mother hen away when they're old enough to survive on their own. I live in Australia so they're need to be able to regulate their body temp in morning that are about 44 fahrenheit and there's probably rats that'll come in there at night.
What's the earilest age you think it'd be possible to do this?

 

[Nicole01]

I have my chicks in the house in their brooder. I bought them from a feed store, so they never saw their real mother. I took over the role of mother hen. I'm not really sure what to do in your situation. I'm sure someone else can help.

 

[Lesa]

Friendly chickens are not hard to come by, and I doubt you have to remove them from their mother. Let her do the work, and you do the spoiling. Treats are the key here, and time and patience. If you spend time with the birds and offer them goodies, I promise they will be friendly. If my girls see me at a far distance, they call each other and gather... It doesn't take long for them to recognize the food goddess!!

 

[callahanfarmgirl]

They need to be feathered out completely to regulate their own body heat at night ( around 6wks ) As said before, let momma hen do all the work. You can still make them human friendly with momma. I just spend time with mine every day and starting around 2 weeks of age I start hand feeding them some. It won't take long before they are running to you!!!