We recently had a nest of ckickens hatch and we decided to leave the chicks in a cage with the mum. Hold old should they be before we relese them to run around with the other adult chickens? Momma chicken is quite protective, but will the other chickens still pick on them?
2007-09-01 13:01:34 · 4 answers · asked by Goosey 2 in Pets ➔ Birds
We do that all the time. We usually keep the mom and babies in a separate cage until the babies can fly (to where the wings seem to be longer than they are), for most chickens this takes about 3 weeks. This way, the little chicks can get away from danger more easily. Also make sure the momma can fly just in case and make sure when you put them with the older chickens that you lock them up at night. Once they mom starts weaning the chicks, the others will go through the pecking order and they may peck them a little, but by then the chicks will be big enough to fend for themselves. Until then, the mom will take good care of them :]
Hope that helped and good luck!
- Becky
2007-09-02 08:42:40 · answer #1 · answered by Avian Queen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they are already separated, I wouldn't try to re-introduce the hen and her babies for a while, and even when you do it needs to be a supervised interaction to ensure that the other chickens dont attack/peck the young ones. And regardless of 29 years experience of raising chickens or not, chicks do not need grit right after they hatch! They need a good chick starter and clean water.
2007-09-02 00:56:08 · answer #2 · answered by rustic_warior 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Possibly like 2-3 weeks old, remember the mommy will return to the same house at night try to lock her up so nothing can get her when she sleeps. Don't forget to give mommy and babies a little grit, we use the fine sand in the driveway for it.
2007-09-01 20:20:50 · answer #3 · answered by lovesunflowers78 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they wont if the mother is protective.
2007-09-01 20:05:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋