For those of you that let your chicks our in the yard during the day what keeps them from flying away or running away?
We have 5 chicks that are about 5 weeks old. They spent there first night in the garage last night without a heat light. It was 54 degrees at 6AM this morning so I hope they didn't get too cold. I turned on the heat lamp this morning and the temp got up to 65 pretty fast.
We live in a small subdivision with houses all around us. Everyone has a 6' privacy fence around their lot. I'm worried that if I were to let them in the back yard they would fly away or somehow get to somewhere where I couldn't get them. I've read that full grown chickens can jump/fly 6 to 8 feet. I have no idea how high or far these girls could go, but I don't want to take any chances - 2 neighbors have big dogs.
Three questions
1. Is 54 degrees too cold at night at 5 wks old?
2. Will they fly away over a 6' fence?
3. Can they see in the pitch black of night like some other animals can?
Thank you.
My store-bought chicks are 10 days old now, but I put them with a hen that had gone broody, so she's taking full care of them. They've been out in the coop since day one, but with a 'mum' (albeit a surrogate one) to keep them warm at night, so even though it got down to 1°c last night (about 30°f), they were fine this morning. As long as they are fully feathered, I wouldn't have thought that 54°f was too cold for them, especially if they are in a coop where they can huddle together.
With regard to the fence, my experience is that an 18-inch high fence wil stop a grazing chicken from straying on to next-door's land, but even 6' fence won't necessarily stop a determined (or extremely panicked) chicken from getting where it wants to be. As long as your chickens are happy where they are, with plenty to keep them occupied, they're not likely to put a lot of effort into flying over a fence. Mine don't even attempt to get over the 18" high net that separates my back garden from the field next door. However, when Cinders (a large Marans hybrid, who is usually too ungainly to even get off the ground) got separated from the others behind a 4' high fence, she got so panicked and desperate that she managed to fly over it without even a running start! Personally, unless you are having a problem with them getting out of where they should be, I would never clip their wings - all that does is prevent them getting away from a predator, should one ever get into your yard.
As far as night vision goes, there is something about the dark that makes chickens completely docile. Mine free range all day, and I can't get near them to pick them up. Night time in the coop is completely different - the only time I can pick them up and check them over, as they are completely dopey. I wouldn't give them credit for any night vision at all!!!
