When to seperate chicks from brood mother?

[whalerchicken]

Two months ago we bot 7 Deleware chicks and slipped them under a brooding hen who immediately took them as her own. All seven are doing well and are with "mom" in a seperate pen from the other chickens. Today "mom" layed her first egg and clearly wants to be back in the coop with the rest of the adult chickens. When do we seperate the chicks from "mom"? They are two months old, feathered and our nights are in the 50's. Just wondering when they can go it alone and then at what age can we introduce them to the main flock of adult chickens.
Thank you.

 

[ChicKat]

I would expect being fully feathered, they can take the temperatures.

Some of your approach will depend upon your set up.

Letting mom rejoin the others and bring her brood with her may make your life easier....depending upon things like: space, do they free range, do you want to feed them all the same feed, are your other chickens welcoming and curious or hostile and aggressive toward your mom-hen and her babies.

Good luck with the future of your new chicks..

ALSO welcome to the BYC forum. I hope you get a lot of good advice from the BYC community and you can see what approach will work best for you and your flock.

 

[whalerchicken]

I've had chickens long enough to know there will certainly be some "pecking order" established with the new birds if they were introduced with the rest of the group. I was hoping to wait until they were older before puttin them in with the rest of the chickens. I am not quite free range in that they dont have a big field to run in, but they do have a covered outside area attached to the coop (we have hawks around) and a very large outside area that is not covered off another side of the coop. The birds are free to use either area as they please. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[suebee]

It should be around 6 weeks but my silkie broody took it to extremes...3 months.

 

[RonC]

At two months they should be good to be without mom. Like ChicKat said it depends on the temperament of your flock. If they are docile towards mom and the young ones then you night not have even had to separate them to begin with. I agree to let them in with the flock and keep an eye on them. If the others are aggressive then separate then until they are almost grown.

 

[pallas]

That is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute, do they always do that? (I was considering getting a silkie chick when i get a new coop)

 

[Minnowey]

Try letting them out, and watch to see what happens. At night, make sure they are all settled in, instead of wandering blindly around, looking for their old place. Most of my mother hens usually begin to leave their chicks on their own at about 1.5 months. I have one hen who goes broody 2-3 times a year. Sho left one of her batches from last year (12 chicks) at 2 weeks to go sit on another nest.