No peeps all grow at the same rate no matter how they are raised either by hen or incubators.Bugs are hard for the peeps to catch kill and eat with the hen she finds the bugs she kills the bugs and the peeps will eat the bugs when she calls them to dinner.Which means the hen has already killed the bug and made into smaller chunks for the peeps to consume.At 3 mounths the hen has had enough raising the peep which should have the pirmary feathers can find bugs and food on its own by now it no longer needs the mom hen's help so she shows the bird the door and kicks it aside. Depending on the breed and how fast a bird learns the mom hen has done all she needs to do for the baby bird as far as the hen is concerned the peep(baby) bird is full grown and able to live on its own and join the pecking order and the mom hen she must try to fit back into her order before she was out to raise the peep to a grown bird.

I'd raised chicks I'm fact I have some now.

Anyway my chicks are tiny like the size of your palm and they were raised naturally however because of their breed they are small

Normally I'd let my 3-4 month old chicks go out with my other chickens bug in this case they are small so have to wait longer in case they get hurt

Anyway yes mothers do push chicks away don't worry they'll do fine.

Their mum will still care for them a bit but they are old enough

This year was the first year we had a hen raise a chick (only one hatched). It hatched in the incubator but when she was dry we took her down at night and put her under the hen, who was in a solitary shed away from the other chickens.

When we have raised chicks in brooders, it says not to take them outside/let them eat bugs until they're several weeks old, I think 4-6. However, the baby with the hen was outside eating bugs at 2 days old. She didn't have a "teenage" phase (where she is 1/2 baby feathers and 1/2 adult feathers like most chicks go through) and had all her adult feathers by 4-6 weeks of age.

Do chicks raised by a hen grow up faster? Why do they say not to feed brooder chicks bugs until they're a few weeks old, but a 2-day-old chick with mama is fine to eat them?

She is now 3 months old and mama pushed her away about 2 weeks ago (so at 2.5 months old). Is this normal? I thought they usually stayed with their babies until about 4 months of age.

Thanks for your help! :)