Confused

[Deer lane farm]

Hi. The internet is great but sometimes there is too much info. This is my first time with baby chicks. So far so good. I have had them 2 weeks. I'm guessing they were about 3 days old when I got them. It has been really hot here in the 90's so I have let them out into the coop during the day. Is this bad?? They came in at night by themselves. At 3 weeks can I start letting them go outside by themselves while I go to work or should I keep them inside in the coop? I feel the outside run is really safe with welded wire. A door that locks , partial roof rocks around the bottom and wire in the ground a foot out.Thanks for any input.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Hi and welcome. A photo of the setup would be very helpful in allowing us to see any weak spots of concern you might have. What are the dimensions of the openings in the welded wire?

 

[Deer lane farm]

2x4 I think i got. But I have chicken wire behind that

 

[Folly's place]

Bantam chicks go right through chicken wire, so you must have large fowl chicks, I hope. Some predators can get through chicken wire openings; think snakes and weasels. Babies are stupid, and I wouldn't want mine out there without supervision, unless they were with a broody hen. Mary

 

[Deer lane farm]

How do you prevent predators from getting in? I have chicken wire and welded wire and a roof. There a locked in a shed at night. I live in NJ so we have small garden snakes only. We have a lot of hawks but the outside pen is completely covered. I love my new babies I would hate for them to be hurt. I do have two small dogs that wonder around the yard during the day.

 

[Folly's place]

You need hardware cloth, much more effective than chicken wire. Again, weasels are everywhere, just not often seen. My run is also chicken wire and welded wire, but I don't pretend that it's predator proof, and my birds are in their coop when they are little. Mary

 

[Deer lane farm]

I got more welded wire today. The whole outside run is chicken wire and then welded wire on top of that. The inside is a shed that locks, but I have the shed split in half , half for chickens and half for storage. So i put welded wire inside too. I have a lock on the hatch to the outside. I will keep the girls inside the coop until they get much bigger except when I am out there. they do love to come out and play. And it has been really hot here for September. I hope they stay safe. My fiancé thinks I'm becoming obsessed and I just got started. LOL

 

[Folly's place]

You need hardware cloth with 1/2" openings to keep out weasels and raccoon hands; welded wire with 2"x4" openings and chicken wire isn't enough. Mary

 

[cafarmgirl]

I think how "Fort Knox" you need to go on your run depends on your location and what you need to keep out when the birds are out in the daytime. My run is made of chain link dog run panels with small hole chicken wire on the inside so they don't stick their heads through. It has heavy duty shade cloth as a cover and a hot wire around the outside near the ground. It is in no way predator proof, but all I need to keep out in the daytime is dogs, the cover prevents hawk attacks in the run. In the pasture all we have is field fence and hot wire but that's all we need during the day. At night the predators come out of the woodwork so of course my birds are locked in a very secure coop at night.

 

[Folly's place]

I was thinking about the coop; my set-up is like yours; semi-secure run and very good coop. Mary