2 chicks had their 1st outside visit today!

[csummer8882]

We got our chicks a week ago and today was a warm one so I rounded up a few to start and headed outside. One was a NH red and the other was a golden commet. The commet started pecking the ground right away, the red was cheeping like crazy! Didn't peck the ground once, just cheeped so loud! Within 2 minutes, there was a hawk circling above. Play time was over ladies and gents, I hustled them back into the holder and into the house they went! Did the hawk hear my red cheeping or could he see them? Needless to say, the others did not get to get outside today...

 

[csummer8882]

Here are the 2 that went outside today. Now that I can finally upload pics!

Yay!

 

[CrestedGirl]

Awwww , they are so cute. We also got some hawks over here, we scare them of with a horn when ever the come.

 

[csummer8882]

Thank you!

He was really high up. My 6 year old actually spotted it , circling around. We know now to keep a close eye out for the future!

 

[Wildflower_VA]

They are adorable! Hawks have excellent hearing and eyesight. I live in the middle of farmland at the foot of a large mountain range. I have a lot of hawks, which made me stop feeding the songbirds this winter. They were grabbing several birds a day. I was really worried when I put the chicks out in the run, but there is a patch of raspberry vines that the chicks take cover under during the day. I didn't try to tame my chicks very much because I wanted them to retain all their natural instincts for survival. Besides hawks, I have a red fox that I see every few days and we have coyotes, so they need to be very alert.

When my chicks were really little, I made a circle with chicken wire and put bird netting over top to keep flying predators from getting the chicks. You can also make a playpen out of PVC pipe and cover it with netting or chicken wire.

 

[csummer8882]

Thanks for the tips! The coop outside will be well protected as we live on a river and have a ton of critters here.

 

[zengrrl]

I also took a few of mine out yesterday since it was so nice out. Put a laundry basket over the top upside down so they could exper. grass and all. Needless to say they were freaked out and cheeped the whole time. Kinda annoying...hopefully they'll do better. They're wearing out their welcome in the basement til that coop gets built!

 

[csummer8882]

At least yours are in the basement! Mine are in my bedroom! For how much longer, that I can't tell you ! LOL The bigger they get, the louder the cheeping is! Once it starts waking me up, time for them to move into the LR I think.