Wow, I'm really loving this thread! Such wonderful information.
We are getting our first chickens soon. Well, my first. My husband had them when he still lived at home. We're building a coop this weekend and buying some 6 week old pullets from a nearby small farm. They are alreadyin a coop there. We plan to let ours roam around in the evenings after work and the weekends as much as possible. How long should I keep this group confined before letting them out of the run? I'll keep a close eye on them until they're grown because we have an outside cat. I just wondered how long it takes before they consider the coop home?
I'd keep them in about a week, depending on how tame they are. They need to be comfortable in their new home, and know where to go if they get scared or if it starts to get dark. If they're not at all tame, it may be very hard to catch them out in the yard, so you need them to be willing to go back to the coop on their own. On the other hand, if they're lap chickens already, you may be able to let them out (with supervision) on day one, if you can simply walk up to one and pick it up. I typically start free ranging my chicks in a large wire bottomless cage, just to protect them from the cat, and to keep them from running off in all different directions at the same time, as you will be outnumbered and may have a hard time keeping track of them all at once if they're not kept together. But if you let them out this soon, be sure to watch them closely, and to take them in at least an hour before dark for the first week. Chickens are very perceptive about changing light levels and start to look for a safe place to spend the night quite early in the evening. Once they know where their coop is and are confident that it is safe, that's where they'll go. But until then they might hide under a bush or up in a tree. And sometimes they can be very hard to find when they're hiding, especially after dark.
Also, even though they're feathered out at 6 weeks, they're still babies without a hen, so be careful about too much exposure to harsh weather. They're well protected at this age from moderate weather, but snow or cold rain or wind is likely too much at this age, depending on what they've been acclimated to already. They'll grow up very fast, so they'll be able to take almost any weather soon.
Most, not all, cats can be trained not to hunt your chicks by the time the babies are this old, even my hard-core hunters. I usually start by taking the chicks out in a large wire cage, so that they can graze but the cats can't get to them. When the cat starts to stalk the chicks, I pick up the cat, tell it "NO" firmly enough for it to pay attention but not so harshly that I scare it, then set the cat down and pick up a baby chick and hold and pet the baby. Then I pet the cat, then the chick, then the cat, then the chick, etc. Whenever the cat gets a predatory look on its face or shows any predatory body posturing I again tell it "NO" and turn the cat's head away. All of my cats have figured it out within 5 minutes that this chick is important to me, and they tone down their prey drive enough that they just watch me play with the babies. The next day I do the same thing. I repeat this until the cat shows no stalking behavior at all, then I take out one chick and let it run around while I hold the cat on the ground. Every few minutes I give the cat treats if he's being calm. If that goes well then I take out a second chick. Eventually a chick will come up to the cat and peck it, and I hold the cat to allow the chick to do that. Once the chick learns that it can peck the cat, and the cat learns not to respond, the chick is the boss. Being natural bullies, chickens will try to intimidate the cat, and the cat typically runs away. I still supervise cats very closely when they're with the chicks until the birds are truly big enough and confident enough to dominate a cat, but training the cat in his way minimizes the likelihood for disaster and gives the chicks confidence, and I've never had a chick killed. This probably only works with cats that are very bonded to their owners, as all mine are. However, excellent hunters and indifferent hunters seem equally trainable, in my experience.
Our neighbors are "week-enders" Thank goodness. and the roo tends to stay away from all the action --on the weekends-- being cautious, plus I'm usually bribing them back to the house and yard on the weekends.
