3 Chick questions...

[chick818]

Hello All,

1.
I was wondering if there is any harm done in putting the chicks (about 4/5 weeks) outside for some play time in the yard. The temps here have been warm and they are protected and supervised. I give them water and I sprinkle some food in with them. My main concern is wether or not it is harmful for them to scratch up the ground and peck around? We have no chemicals on the lawn.

2. Do hens and roosters both start out with a little comb on their foreheads? 3 out of the 4 chicks we got have small combs developing. We are not allowed to keep roosters in our area. Hopefully we will have at least 2.

That brings me to my next question,
3.
Can you mix chicks of different ages, same ages or not at all? A local feed store is getting in some chicks and I was thinking about a couple more. I am not sure what the age is, but mine are about 4/5 weeks.

Thank You for your advice.....

 

[Judy]

Outdoors is fine; mine were in the coop at that age, with a heat lamp for cool nights. Combs depend on the breed. Females of some breeds will start to grow combs at that age. You will get some guesses if you can post pics, but you may have to wait longer to be sure. The feed store is most likely getting day old chicks and you probably could not mix them with yours without some serious fighting or even some killing. Generally, flocks can only be mixed when they are full grown, and even then it can be a problem. People do find they can mix chicks only a week or so apart sometimes, though. If you try it, you would need to supervise closely for a while, and to be prepared to raise them separately.

Good luck!