How soon is "too soon" to head outside?

[AnconaMommy]

Our Silkie hatched three chicks on November 20th. Sadly, we had a daredevil who got a bit too brave and ended up drowning in the big girl's watering bowl. After that, I brought the remaining two inside with my Silkie. They've been living in a pack n play, in the living room, which has been great...until they learned to "fly the coop"! So my question is, I know we have some reintegrating to do. My big girls are actually quite mean to the Silkie now. Was never a problem before, so this has gotten interesting! The baby chicks are one pure Silkie and one Silkie mix. Debated moving the pack n play to the garage for a few weeks to start getting them used to the cold (Colorado has had a huge cold snap...getting in the negatives almost every night with high humidity as well. 75+%!!!) Thinking a heat lamp well above the pack n play with a mesh topper to keep their "exploring" to a minimum as the garage is far from chick proof. Think Mama Silkie is ready to leave the chicks and get back out with her flock now??? How soon until the chicks will be fully feathered and ready to join the group...safely, where they can defend themselves if need be?

 

[azygous]

Lets' take the last question first. Mama hen will determine when her chicks are ready to be on their own, not you or me. You need to keep them all together until she decides to cut them loose. It can occur as early as five weeks or as late as four months. I have two five-month olds that still haven't left their broody.

Are the chicks Silkies, also? Are the rest of the flock standard breeds? If so, you may end up with a problem, even though the Silkie hen managed up to now.

It's so much easier to integrate chicks early for so many reasons, I find it hard to understand why everyone hasn't figured it out. (My article below on outdoor brooding has all the reasons.) A broody hen will integrate her new chicks into the flock during the first week as a rule. Now, she's going to have a tougher job since she also is re-integrating into the flock.

First thing to do when integrating chicks is to make the run as safe for them as possible. Begin with keeping the little family in a safe pen to reacquaint them to the flock. Begin on a day when the weather is mild. Our 50F winter days seem mild, anyway, and it's not cold to chicks that are well on their way to being feathered out.

Increase the duration of exposure to these cool temps over several days, at the same time removing all heat from their indoor brooder. They will be acclimatized and can then move to the coop without heat in less than a week. The chicks should be fine as they will continue to sleep under their broody or as much as they can fit themselves under a pint sized hen.

I like to use the panic room method of integrating chicks, a pen with chick- size openings, even with a broody hen in the picture. The broody will remain outside the panic room, and the chicks will use it to bolster their self confidence. It's just an additional safety factor and it makes integration go much faster and smoother. It's also discussed in my article.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

I agree with everything azygous said.

Although other ladies are mean to mama silkie... going broody gives them an edge because they are psycho mums! Don't mess with my girls. They raise their chicks in the coop from day 1 here. Maybe next time, recognize the water danger and switch to a different type of waterer. It is definitely one of my biggest concerns as well.

Guess you can tell you've got a little mix cockerel there? That's a nice early red comb!

The chicks are cute enough... but the pic with your big joyful smile is the best!

 

[Harmony Fowl]

Not too soon. I have 16 a week younger than yours outside already, albeit with a heater and a panic room. The heater will stay probably another 10-14 days, the panic room until they don’t fit under it anymore. Much of what azygous recommended above is similar to what I did. I do only have older chicks to integrate with, though.

 

[AnconaMommy]

Lets' take the last question first. Mama hen will determine when her chicks are ready to be on their own, not you or me. You need to keep them all together until she decides to cut them loose. It can occur as early as five weeks or as late as four months. I have two five-month olds that still haven't left their broody.

Are the chicks Silkies, also? Are the rest of the flock standard breeds? If so, you may end up with a problem, even though the Silkie hen managed up to now.

It's so much easier to integrate chicks early for so many reasons, I find it hard to understand why everyone hasn't figured it out. (My article below on outdoor brooding has all the reasons.) A broody hen will integrate her new chicks into the flock during the first week as a rule. Now, she's going to have a tougher job since she also is re-integrating into the flock.

First thing to do when integrating chicks is to make the run as safe for them as possible. Begin with keeping the little family in a safe pen to reacquaint them to the flock. Begin on a day when the weather is mild. Our 50F winter days seem mild, anyway, and it's not cold to chicks that are well on their way to being feathered out.

Increase the duration of exposure to these cool temps over several days, at the same time removing all heat from their indoor brooder. They will be acclimatized and can then move to the coop without heat in less than a week. The chicks should be fine as they will continue to sleep under their broody or as much as they can fit themselves under a pint sized hen.

I like to use the panic room method of integrating chicks, a pen with chick- size openings, even with a broody hen in the picture. The broody will remain outside the panic room, and the chicks will use it to bolster their self confidence. It's just an additional safety factor and it makes integration go much faster and smoother. It's also discussed in my article.

Thank you so much! Yes, I kind of want to kick myself for moving them out of the coop. I just made the "I'm freezing" and "they might get hurt", etc to justify moving them. Should have just left them...now I definitely know better! Thank you again and yes, I am going to start them with more outside time now!!!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I have 16 a week younger than yours outside already

16 will put out a lot more heat than 2 or 3. They huddle together much more effectively.