8 week old black sex links

[Bigegges]

I have 6 8 week old black sex links they are about half the size of a full grown chicken are the safe to get left out with my adult hens and free range my only concern for predators is our 3 barn cats. They don’t bother the big hens just wondering if they are big enough for the cats to not mess with them

 

[TheTexasChickenGirl]

I have 6 8 week old black sex links they are about half the size of a full grown chicken are the safe to get left out with my adult hens and free range my only concern for predators is our 3 barn cats. They don’t bother the big hens just wondering if they are big enough for the cats to not mess with them

Do you have pics? Do your cats have a reputation for attacking your chickens? Maybe you can put them together through a fence or something and see how your cats react.

 

[Bigegges]

Do you have pics? Do your cats have a reputation for attacking your chickens? Maybe you can put them together through a fence or something and see how your cats react.

The cats have never bothered any of out chickens but tried to stalk the chicks when they were about 4 weeks old and pretty small. I think they will be fine just wondering

 

[Mamatomany123]

You cant just leave them with the big hens. There is a high chance they will attack them. You'll need to do a see but no touch setup for a few weeks. I brood in my coop to start I integration right away and by 2.5-3 weeks my chicks are with the big girls.

 

[cmom]

When you free range it's a risk you take and you will eventually loose a bird/birds. Lessons learned the hard way. For years I had no issues and then my birds were discovered. Now they have nice large pens. Good luck...

 

[Bigegges]

You cant just leave them with the big hens. There is a high chance they will attack them. You'll need to do a see but no touch setup for a few weeks. I brood in my coop to start I integration right away and by 2.5-3 weeks my chicks are with the big girls.

They have been in the sam scoop since 4 week old when I moved them outside in this. I have also let and out to free range no problem with cat or bigger chickens bullying them. The big chickens don’t even care about them they go off and free range as the black sex links don’t go to far away form the coop door outside they are still sleeping on the ground and not rooster with the adults yet though

 

[Mamatomany123]

They have been in the sam scoop since 4 week old when I moved them outside in this. I have also let and out to free range no problem with cat or bigger chickens bullying them. The big chickens don’t even care about them they go off and free range as the black sex links don’t go to far away form the coop door outside they are still sleeping on the ground and not rooster with the adults yet though View attachment 2650875

I have to put my chicks on the roost for them to start understanding. My setup has 3 roost. 2 are next to eachother and at the same height and 1 is across from those at a lower height. My younger ones usually start on those and as they get closer to laying they move up with the big girls without much fuss.