Chicks Flying Out of Brooder

[Caseym1717]

My chicks are 2 weeks old. Today, one of them decided she wanted to fly out of the brooder. The brooder stands about 18 inches high (its a 50 gal tote that gives them plenty of room but could obviously be taller). I put the lid on (we cut out 90% of it and used hardware cloth to cover) but I don't know if I need to move them to something taller? I don't really have anything to move them to except their coop but it is still too early. Is it hurting anyone if they have the lid on? This might sound silly but I don't want to affect their growth or anything by preventing them from spreading their wings.

 

[Pyxis]

Nope, a lid doesn't hurt anything I always have to put a lid on mine after I have my first escapee

 

[lazy gardener]

They should have at least 2 s.f. per chick at this age, and the temp should be dropped down considerably. Are you brooding them in your house? If so, are you working on weaning them? Turn the heat off for increasing lengths of time. By the time they are 3 weeks old, they should be fine without the heat at all at temps mid 60's and above. Looks like your day time temps are in mid 70's. So, there's no reason why they couldn't be going out to the coop during the day for a few hours, and increasing that time till they are in the coop full time by the time they are 4 weeks old. Do a thread search for wool hen or huddle box. Either option would allow you to move them to the coop much sooner.

 

[KDMdesigns]

Typical behavior, love seeing them realize they have full wings lol

 

[bobbi-j]

They should have at least 2 s.f. per chick at this age, and the temp should be dropped down considerably. Are you brooding them in your house? If so, are you working on weaning them? Turn the heat off for increasing lengths of time. By the time they are 3 weeks old, they should be fine without the heat at all at temps mid 60's and above. Looks like your day time temps are in mid 70's. So, there's no reason why they couldn't be going out to the coop during the day for a few hours, and increasing that time till they are in the coop full time by the time they are 4 weeks old. Do a thread search for wool hen or huddle box. Either option would allow you to move them to the coop much sooner.

I was in the process of saying they could go to the coop, too, but LG beat me to it and did a much better job of it. So, ditto LG!

 

[Caseym1717]

They should have at least 2 s.f. per chick at this age, and the temp should be dropped down considerably. Are you brooding them in your house? If so, are you working on weaning them? Turn the heat off for increasing lengths of time. By the time they are 3 weeks old, they should be fine without the heat at all at temps mid 60's and above. Looks like your day time temps are in mid 70's. So, there's no reason why they couldn't be going out to the coop during the day for a few hours, and increasing that time till they are in the coop full time by the time they are 4 weeks old. Do a thread search for wool hen or huddle box. Either option would allow you to move them to the coop much sooner.

I am brooding them in my house and I take them outside on the grass when the weather is nice! Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[lazy gardener]

Just for reference, my chicks are brooded in a grow out coop, here in Maine, in April. Night time temps down to 20's, day time temps 40's. By the time they are 3 weeks old, they are flitting all over the place in their 4 x 8 loft where their MHP is, and using the 8 x 12 run. At that age, they do not use their MHP very often at all. They wean themselves off their MHP heat by the time they are 4 - 5 weeks old. No supplemental heat at that time, and the night time temps often go down to 30's, day time temps vary 50's to low 70's.

 

[Tamitch]

I keep a lid on mine, mainly because I have a cat that likes to sit in there and watch them, not hurt, watch. So he lays on top and listens and protects them.

 

[Joeschooks]

Yeah, keep the lid on or you’ll start losing chicks all over the place lol!

They wean themselves off their MHP heat by the time they are 4 - 5 weeks old. No supplemental heat at that time, and the night time temps often go down to 30's, day time temps vary 50's to low 70's.

Same here. Mine are not using their heat plate and it’s 33 degrees out there. They are just coming up for 6 weeks old.