[smudger]

I have two hens who each have one chick each and both are feathering up, probably  3-4 weeks old. Is there a point where the hen will just up and abandon the chick and should I at some point remove them (if I can can catch 'em) and put them in a house / run together? I do eventually want them inn the onne house with all the other hens - best done early or when full grown?

[shygirl]

in our experience the hens looked after the chicks and showed the world. we never separated them at all until they were sold. though f you are finishing them for meat they may need a different diet later on.

[Fanackapan]

I left the chicks with Mother hens last year until I wanted to change their diet from chick crumb onto growers, then they went into their own run area until they were old enough to mix with the flock and eat layers - maybe 17/18 weeks of age. Talking laying hens, no idea if its done differently for table birds.

[suziequeue]

My experience from last year was that the chicks ran less and less to their Mums but we never separated them.


Now - I couldn't tell you which speckledy was Mum to the two maran hens she hatched.


Two of the boys went when they were about six months old. The third is now Mr Rooster in charge  [size=78%] and is [/size]adorable. [size=78%] [/size]


I remember when he was an egg.

[HesterF]

I've got three that hatched mid-May and mum has well and truly abandoned them. I think because they're together, they don't seem fussed. When I brought them into the flock a few weeks ago, I brought them in within a run in the main run to begin with for a few days. Then opened it up and let them go in and out. Strangely the chicks have stayed in the separate house whereas mum has returned to the main chicken house at night. Even more strangely, I've since introduced a batch of ducklings that were a week younger so I went through the same process - including separating them out in the house/run. The chicks roosted on top of the run instead. When I tried to put them in the main chicken house, one came out in the morning with a neck injury. So then I let them go they want - result is that the three young(ish) chicks and the ducklings go in together.

Meantime I've a lone duckling that hatched mid-April and is completely attached to his broody mum - including sitting next to her as she lays. She's recently gone broody again (in the duck house!) so he's normally close at hand. No idea how I'm going to break that tie.

My daughter has a book 'There's a cow in the cabbage patch' - all about how all the animals are in the wrong place. I've got a duck in the chicken house (unless she's being broody in the duck house) and three chicks in the duck house. All completely confused. No idea really about whether to separate or not! I just do whatever's easiest...

H

[HelenVF]

I tend to leave the chicks with the mother.  They soon start to show less and less interest in looking after them and then they just become a part of the flock.  I don't feed mine anything different but have never raised meat birds.

Helen

[smudger]

Love it Hester.  All the books say don't mix ducks and chickens... but they don't read the same books do they?


One hen is in a house next to the main coop, but the other is in an ark in the field - hence my concern that he/she may be abandoned.  I found a few dead chicks (ie newly hatched) in with both mums so hence jury is out own their mothering skills. However it is a joy to watch them together.


I've taken rest of eggs away after the last 'half-dead' chick found (now recovered after being warmed in incubator) and am hatching the rest but its definitely easier to have the hen doing the work post hatching.

[smudger]

Well the answer was..... yesterday morning. One chick was gone last night.  I just had a feeling yesrterday morning that she wasn't 'talking' to her chick as much.

[Hevxxx99]

That's always been my experience.  They get feathered up and the mums get fed up with them and go off and do their own thing and start laying again, usually when the chicks are around 6 weeks old, by which time they are perching happily next to mum at nights or in the henhouse with all the chickens.