when are they ready to get back to normal?

[curliet]

I have a chick that hatched 5 weeks ago. Mama has been taking her/him outside the broody run a little bit to get some grass etc and the other chickens have been coming around. No one seems to bother them, but Mama shoos the baby right back into their own pen if things get rowdy or there are too many other chickens around. But I'm wondering if this is the time to start getting the mama and baby introduced back into the main coop, and should I expect eggs from Mama again soon?

 

[pgpoultry]

If there are no problems during the day, then keep them all out together for 4-5 days before you try them overnight.
Momma hen is likely to desert the chicks and come back into lay any day now,

Good Luck,

Sandie

 

[KingSpeck]

I had a similar situation - my broody pen is right next to the larger coop. Every evening I would let my broody and her babies out to free range with the other girls for a little while just before it was time to go in and roost for the night. Usually the adults would go back to the coop to roost and the broody and her babies would go back to their broody pen. Right around 4-5 weeks the broody just decided to lead the babies into the regular coop instead and they've been there ever since.

 

[curliet]

aaahhhh, that's the kind of answer I was hoping for Kingspeck. Kind of thought that might be the case, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. Open the broody pen and let them out to range a little, and see where they end up.