When can I let mom and her babies freely range with the flock?

[NicInNC]

My silkie is mothering six baby chicks. They are now 10-12 days old. I've had them in a separate area in the coop where all the others can see them and I let them out to range with the others for a couple hours each day. One day my rooster did peck at one of the chicks but that was it. Everyone seems to get along pretty well and mom protects her babies well.

When can I remove them from the separate area and allow them to freely range with the others 24/7?

This is the current setup:

 

[NicInNC]

bump

 

[mboreham1]

I think it depends on the space, obviously in the wild 1 day old chicks are free to roam. I had mine out free ranging for about an hour a day after 2 weeks and out in the coop permenantly at 3 1/2 weeks, they were in a brooder in the coop for a week then, its free for all. They have plenty of space to escape the other girls if they decide to try and sort the pecking order out. Last night was their first night without a heat lamp, they were Feb 25th hatching, so about 6 weeks. I am in Northern CA and it dropped to 45 degrees last night, they were fine.

So long story short, if they are stable on their feet and able to have space to escape over zealous chickens i would let them start in a few days when they are 2-3 weeks old