Can girls stay in coop until 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. daily?

[junebuggena]

My birds range on our acre most of the day. One 25 lb bag of feed lasts about 2 or 3 weeks for my dozen 14 week old chickens.

 

[BlessedCountry6]

We had a big rodent problem when we first bought our place. We have finally managed to eliminate all of their entrances into the house. We really don't want to do anything to encourage the rats and mice to come back. The coop is only 10 feet from the house, so yes, we remove all feed from the chicken area every night.

that is another reason we don't leave feed out. I toss them enough to eat and they gobble it up and go on their way. we use to have a lot of field mice. the cows have stomped the tunnels closed and my dogs caught the ones in our yard. only thing we have left are stinking moles. oh well better than mice.

 

[crazi4chix]

That makes sense. We have been through that as well and have more in our barn right now than usual, as we lost our two senior cats. We want to get more barn cats, but thought we ought to let the chickens reach full size first.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. Yeah, they should be fine. I don't let mine out as soon as the sun rises. They are loud about their complaints, but fine and eager to be let out.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[crazi4chix]

Thank you all for the warm welcome and great advice.

Next Question: we are moving our tank raised girls (4 weeks) into their coop today. How long should we keep them inside only before introducing them to the attached outdoor run (1 inch chicken wire, covered, about 8x8)

 

[junebuggena]

Moving chicks into a new area can stress them out. Put them into the coop in the evening, just as the sun is going down. Leave them in the coop for a day or so to give them time to adjust. Once they seem comfortable in the coop and are acting just like they did their brooder, they are ready for run access.

 

[crazi4chix]

Thank you!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

The other members have answered you question quite nicely. So I'll just say good luck and welcome to the community.