Chicks and growing onions

[Wagnit09]

Can I begin to introduce the chicks to the outdoors now? Or should I wait for them to feather out a bit more? They are 2 weeks old; although they have been kept in the house, our heater in that room is broken so it gets chilly a night. They seem to like the temp cooler because they rarely go directly under their lamp even at night. I've had to raise the lamp to maintain plenty of room for them to comfortably move about and not overheat.

I have a tub on my back porch step in which the kids are growing onions. I'm curious if I can place our baby chicks in it for short periods of time as a beginning introduction to the outdoors. We finally have a nice sunny day today and want to see if it is okay to start getting them acclimated to being outside; weather permitting.

I was thinking it has more interest than our yard at the moment. And since it is right next to the back door, I can easily place them in it and return them to their brooder bin inside.

Do I need to be worried about them pecking at the onion plants? I'm not concerned with the onions and if they get eaten. More interested in if the onions will have an adverse affect on the chicks.

The soil is a blend of potting mix and yard dirt...no fertilizer. The onions over wintered for the second year running.

I was thinking this would be a nice little jungle for them to explore.

 

[Chicken.Owner.13]

Hi! I’m no expert but this is the way I’ve always done it. I take them outside for about 5 minutes a few times a week so they can explore a little bit and also get used to being outdoors. I find that this helps them to be more used to the outside. Just make sure you keep an eye to see if they get cold. I live in CO so I can’t keep them out for too long or they’ll catch a chill! As for the onions, I’m not sure. Hopefully an expert can help you there!!