Can I put my chicks out during the day?

[OhioTanya]

Going to be 69 and nice out today.....50 and rain tomorrow. Ugh! I hate this spring weather. I just wish it would get nice and stay nice. Won't be in the 60's again until Saturday.

When it is a rainy day, do you open the chickens run door so they can go outside if they want or do you keep them locked in the coop?

 

[GretasFlock]

I would say, just watch them. If it's too windy, and rain is blowing in the coop when you open the door, don't let them out and vice versa.

 

[SandyCWV]

Hi. I am new to chickens since we sort of got into this by accident, so we are probably doing everything wrong, but the 16 mixed birds are 5+ weeks old and still alive. They were in a school classroom for incubation and their first two weeks. Then a garage for the third week and then moved to their current situation. Covered dog cage inside a 10x10 kennel. It is tarp covered on the top, north, and west sides and clear plastic on the lower 2 feet on the east and south sides. We are in southern West Virginia where the temperature has ranged from pretty warm to pretty cold during their short lives so far, but from what I can tell they are fat and happy. They will have a regular chicken house this weekend. We are building it for the number of hens we want to keep plus the 10x10 yard, which should do all of them until we sort out the keepers. Chick watching has become a fun activity in the evenings.

 

[RonC]

My run is secure and the coop is inside. It has no door on the coop so they do as they please. They get under the coop when it rains. During the winter I covered the top and one side(west) with a tarp. The back of the run(north) is against the garage. The east side sits next to a covered porch so it gives some protection form the wind in winter and shade in the summer. Only the south side is open in the winter.

 

[Lisa Glasgow]

Thank you so much for your question, We are in Northeast Ohio too... and chickens are about 5 weeks too... and really need to move out of the house and into their own place

.... but I'm really worried it just might be too chilly yet, it was snowing a little bit yesterday.... sigh...

 

[chickery-do]

My Silkies are less than a foot tall and my Americana's are so large, even thou they have their feathers, I'm afraid of what the big girls will do. I can put them in their aviary. The big girls are locked up at night inside their coop. But I'd feel so bad about the little ones out in the cold. It's not that warm up here at night.

 

[jackschwartz12]

 

[gaitngirl]

I put my 5 week old light brahmas out in a plastic covered chicken tractor a couple weeks ago. I'm in MI where the seasons change by the minute, lol. They are doing just fine and love the extra space!
I had to divide the area in there to accommodate 12 3 -4 week olds that were rescues of a sort. I worried because they were barely feathered. They are doing great so far, too.

 

[Everlong9750]

I started letting mine out for 10-15 min when they were 1 week old, then increased time. I only let them in my greenhouse though, where it is very warm! They love it

 

[lmattke]

We are fostering 6 EEs - they are about 2 weeks old now. Since the temps have been in the low 70s during the day, I have just started letting them outside during the day in a small protected area, and have taken the heat lamp away in the indoor brooder box. I will plan to move them to an unheated barn for the nights, too, within about 2-3 weeks. But the temps here should not get below the 50s by that time. And I figure if they are used to being outside most of the days for a couple of weeks leading up to that AND there are 6 of them to huddle together, they should be able to handle that.

Sandy CWV - Welcome to the world of chickens. It is a lot of fun. Make sure your dog kennel/ run is covered securely to protect against predators esp. at night. Like raccoons who can and will climb anything to get at chickens. And/ or make sure you lock your chickens into the new henhouse at night, every night!