How long should a mother hen raise her chicks for?

I’d like to keep the mother separated with her babies if she’s willing, but I don’t know how long you typically do that for. Or do I put her back in with the other chickens after they’ve all hatched?

A good mom will stay with her babies for around 5-12weeks. Depending on the bird, she may kick them out early or keep them for a long time. You'll know when she's done with them when she isn't calling them over to eat/drink/follow her and when she starts laying again and she'll peck when they come near her. Some hens will mother for a longer time, even when she starts laying.

mamachicken03 said:

I’d like to keep the mother separated with her babies if she’s willing, but I don’t know how long you typically do that for. Or do I put her back in with the other chickens after they’ve all hatched?

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I let the hen wean them. Most often the hen weans the chicks off of her at 12 weeks.
Earliest I've had hens wean chicks was like 4 weeks.

Mama will know when it's time to separate.

I have always monitored the hen and if she starts pecking at her chicks she is ready to be back with the rest of the flock. This is usually when she begins laying eggs again. I have had hens do this in as little as four weeks. But my most recent brood hen went ten weeks after she hatched chicks on 12/26/2021 and was seemingly in no hurry to part with her chicks.

I just want to pipe in quickly and thank ALL of you who are ready and happy to assist those of us who are still learning with your experience and knowledge. PEACE!

This is such a great post! Thanks so much for asking! Thanks so much for asking the question! I have a mom sitting with seven babies. They are all about 4 weeks old and she's getting the itch to go back to the flock. My question would be once she's ready to go back to the flock, how do you reintroduce her? Does she just go in naturally because they already know her or do I have to go through a process? Like do I do it at night time and throw her in the coop with the rest of the chickens? Or who has some great advice for me and for mamachicken 03?

MartaKuz said:

This is such a great post! Thanks so much for asking! Thanks so much for asking the question! I have a mom sitting with seven babies. They are all about 4 weeks old and she's getting the itch to go back to the flock. My question would be once she's ready to go back to the flock, how do you reintroduce her? Does she just go in naturally because they already know her or do I have to go through a process? Like do I do it at night time and throw her in the coop with the rest of the chickens? Or who has some great advice for me and for mamachicken 03?

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Where is this broody and her babies? Are they in sight of the flock? I had a broody hatch 5 babes 2 weeks ago and never separated them from the flock, they all co-mingle and momma keeps everyone in line

Auntiejessi3 said:

Where is this broody and her babies? Are they in sight of the flock? I had a broody hatch 5 babes 2 weeks ago and never separated them from the flock, they all co-mingle and momma keeps everyone in line

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This is what I've done too. My first broody kept everyone away for the first few days. Now at 2 1/2 weeks they stick with mom, but mingle and free range with the rest of the flock. My second broody started free ranging her chicks at 3 days old - that was scary, but we decided to trust her. So far it is going well as she only has them out of the run for 20 minutes at a time and doesn't go very far.

MartaKuz said:

This is such a great post! Thanks so much for asking! Thanks so much for asking the question! I have a mom sitting with seven babies. They are all about 4 weeks old and she's getting the itch to go back to the flock. My question would be once she's ready to go back to the flock, how do you reintroduce her? Does she just go in naturally because they already know her or do I have to go through a process? Like do I do it at night time and throw her in the coop with the rest of the chickens? Or who has some great advice for me and for mamachicken 03?

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If she has been completely separate from the flock, you will need to do a slow look but don't touch integration. I section off a portion of the run with chicken wire for daytime and place a large dog crate in the coop for night time. Last year, we kept our new chicks separate until the flock lost interest and ignored them.
If they have been able to see each other, I would just start letting them mingle, but keep an eye out for any problems.