I have some 6 week olds, I have had them locked in the coop for 3 days now. It is my understanding that you need to lock them in the coop for an amount of time before you let them out in the run, that way, they know where to go to roost at night. how long do I need to keep em' in there before letting them in the run? They have plenty of room in the coop (its 6'x20'), but it is is a bit cooler outside in the run. I have some fans set up in the coop to keep the air circulated. I couldn't resist posting a picture too, this is one of my Delawares. She is one of the 1st to come greet me
They'd be ok now if you let them out. They'd most likely just slowly make their way to the door and peek out for a while before venturing outside. Maybe there's a bold one in the bunch who will run straight out. Seems like as soon as one goes, the rest follow after them. Hopefully you'll have time to watch them for a while. Their first time outside is pretty amusing to see. You might have to give them a little coaxing, but they know where to go as it gets to be evening. Have fun & good luck! Post some pics. Mike
Thanks for the reply, So 3 days is enough for them to know where "home" is? Good! I will let them out in the run tomorrow. I will be sure to take some pics for you too My duck is going to be mad at me though... I have had him in the run for 2 years. He gets out every morning to go roam the yard, and locked up at night. His kiddie pool is in the run, and will have to be moved out in the yard. and I am planning on locking him out for a few days, until he gets used to the chicks. Poor Mr. duck duck
They should do fine in the run. You may need to help them go back inside at night though. I sprinkled crumbles on the ramp the first couple of days to entice them onto the ramp itself. I also had ducks that had to share the run...just keep an eye out on him though. My ducks were only about 4 weeks older than the chicks, who did not go out till they were 7-8 weeks old, and the ducks would run and try to peck the girls.
Our chicks only needed a single night in the coop roosting to figure out where they needed to be when it started getting dark. They did need a little help getting up to the roosts for the first couple of nights because they'd come in too late and one of our pullets (the flocks top chicken) was too scared to jump up to the roosts in the dark. I actually had to put a small night light in the coop for them until they started to head to bed early. Then we tried to merge our smaller chicks in with the bigger girls and placed them on the roost next to them hoping that would help them "get along". Whats remarkable is that even though they fight during the day (still) while they free range they still return to the coop to roost at night after only one night roosting and they sleep peacefully together with the rival flock (until the sun comes up).
