chicks playtime outside??????

[reelaxd]

how old do my new chicks have to be before i can take them outside for a couple minutes????????????????//................

 

[Chick1043]

I'm not for sure but I started taking mine outside (if warm) at 2 weeks..

 

[reelaxd]

ok thanx for the info

 

[RedDrgn]

If you're feeding them feed with amprolium in it, you should be able to start within a few days if you take them out for short periods and it's warm enough. We started taking ours out at 5 days and have been doing so ever since without any issues.

 

[feliciamckee]

Same with ours. They were just a few days old. My husband built them a little mini coop/pen to keep them safe from the cats and bigger chickens in yard, oh and the goat as well. They loved the warm grass.

 

[DinosRBirds]

They were a few days old when I took them. Outside

 

[CupOJoe42]

How do you contain them outside? We have not started building the coop or the run yet!

 

[RedDrgn]

You can use anything that can be set up in a way that will pen them into a particular area (e.g. cardboard boxes, buckets, cinder blocks, etc.). Even a kiddie pool a low barrel, etc. would work. The sky's the limit so long as there are no sharp edges or other surfaces that they could hurt themselves on and you are there monitoring them the whole time they are out.

 

[Stoney22]

I would say if you have warm summer weather as early as a week or less they could start going outside

 

[burbankchix]

We live in Southern California, but when we got our chicks in mid-June it was still in the 60's at night and not much better during the day. We keep them in a 5'x2'x12" long box, but at about 4 weeks they started flying out of the box even after I'd built up the sides to 24". We had out coop and run already, so we just moved them out with the 250 watt red lamp and never looked back! They are so happy and have grown even bigger and faster. They love it outside. I know all the books recommend keeping them in for 6 weeks, but I don't know how you'd accomplish that in a house. They say no garages, etc., where heat can't be contained. So the coop was the best bet. We also covered the nesting box hinge ares with a blanket and another one on the gate inside the doors to keep out the cold.