# When can I seperate the babies from parent/s?



## anandcholli (Feb 8, 2010)

Hi all,

As some of you know that I have homer babies. They are 1 month old now. Mostly I think they are on their own now. The hen mostly stopped feeding them. The babies do eat well. Every evening even I feed them with corn/soaked chick peas/peas.

Now, I want to pair the hen with a male homer as I badly need another set of babies. Right now babies and the hen are in the same box. When can I separate the babies from hen as they are already 1 month old. I do understand that I should take care of their feeding at least few more weeks?


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

5 weeks is a good number to insure the babies are ready to be on their own, especially if you, as you stated you "think," It is better to wait 2 or 3 more days at least. Don't rush things.


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## anandcholli (Feb 8, 2010)

Hi Victor,

But what I feel that hens usually don't feed their babies when they are more than 4 weeks old. It's mainly the cocks take care of that. But as you are suggesting i'll wait for 5th week to complete.


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## jameswaller (Nov 4, 2008)

the parents should have started another nest/pair of eggs,,as these two squabs were about 21 days old...because-generally at 30 days the beatings begin--and the now fully feathered,flying,squabs will have to fend for themselves.- i hope this is useful-..sincerely james waller


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## anandcholli (Feb 8, 2010)

Hey James,

Thanks but the problem is that the hen is single now. Unfortunately the cock flew away when the babies were just 2 weeks old. So, I need to pair her with another cock. I have two handsome cocks with me but still deciding on that.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Hi Anand, you are right, the mother hens do usually give up and the father tends to with their babies a bit longer. I was not aware the father flew the coop . Since you are the one feeding them, it would be fine to separate them now.


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## anandcholli (Feb 8, 2010)

Thanks Victor and James. I'll do that in the evening!


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## Chilangz (Apr 3, 2008)

Hey Anand,
Go ahead and separate them but keep a close watch on them (they should take care by themselves).

But on getting one more pair of eggs, I do recommend to give it more time before you start expecting one more pair of eggs from it.....its a lot of stress for the hen to lay eggs continuously......give it some time to gat back some energy.
Normally I do leave it for breeding only twice a year (some prefer once a year). This gives ample of time for the parent to get back all the energy spent raising the young ones. Also the quality of the YB's are good with slective breeding (time wise).

Hence request you to approach other breeders before getting ready for one more egg.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Chilangz said:


> Hey Anand,
> Go ahead and separate them but keep a close watch on them (they should take care by themselves).
> 
> But on getting one more pair of eggs, I do recommend to give it more time before you start expecting one more pair of eggs from it.....its a lot of stress for the hen to lay eggs continuously......give it some time to gat back some energy.
> ...



I agree about waiting to breed her right away. Especially if she was raising these babies by herself. She's been stressed enough. Give her some time to recover.


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## anandcholli (Feb 8, 2010)

hmmm ok guys i respect the suggestions given by the seniors. I'll wait for some more  and will keep you guys updated.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I have a differnt suggestion. In the wild, babies natually know when to leave the parents. Since this hen has been stressed by loosing her mate, manybe you should leave them alone and let them separate when they are naturally ready. They will know when it's time.


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

28 to 30 days old is right to remove young birds. at that age they are ready to wean off just watch them the first couple days to see that they are eating and drinking fine. Rest the hen/mother before you breed from her agin.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Charis said:


> I have a differnt suggestion. In the wild, babies natually know when to leave the parents. Since this hen has been stressed by loosing her mate, manybe you should leave them alone and let them separate when they are naturally ready. They will know when it's time.


Charis is right here. You should give her time to rest anyway and not hurry about breeding her, so then why hurry to remove the babies. It would be a good idea to let them do that when they are ready.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Charis said:


> I have a differnt suggestion. In the wild, babies natually know when to leave the parents. Since this hen has been stressed by loosing her mate, manybe you should leave them alone and let them separate when they are naturally ready. They will know when it's time.


That is what I do with mine also, they come out of the box and eat with the other adults when ready and can defend themselves, more of a natural way of doing it.. they do it themselves... but I do not race birds and race folks may do it different as they like to start the training before they get too strong on the wing, and have many babies to put together in their own section. they at least need to be drinking and eating on their own.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

That's true. I didn't think about the racing aspect.


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