1.5 weeks old, already flying!!

[johndeerematt]

So I have about 29 chicks. Went in the coop (have half of my coop fixed up as a brooder) to check on them, and one of those little devils was perched up on 1x12 board used as a divider! Then watched him fly off. What shall I do? Thanks in advance for info!

 

[WhitneyMarie13]

My lil ones are starting to do the same and they're about the same age (1.5 weeks). I use a big rubbermaid container for a brooder and I place some wire grates on top to keep the boogers from flying out. I happened to have an old dog crate divider that worked perfectly...so that solved the problem of them flying out.

Then I noticed my curious little Buff sitting on top of the waterer! My Silver Laced Wyandotte was pretty much screaming at her (probably because she couldn't join her, lol). So, I put an empty plastic up on top of the waterer to stop her from roosting on it.

Your lil ones probably want to roost on something...you could build a simple roost for them to sit on and I've noticed with my girls it really helps them practice flying up, roosting, and sleeping. Chickens love to roost!

So, that's my advice...for 29 chicks I'd try to make a couple of different roosts at different heights and make sure to not place roosts directly under one another otherwise the lil ones will end up pooping on each other!

Hope this helps! They sure get curious and want to test their wings at this age!