Don't know whether chicks should be outside

[Animallover903]

I have chicks that are about 7 weeks old now and I have an outside pin/coop built for them and I have a little place inside that I keep them in. The place that is inside is rather small and the chickens seem really anxious when I bring them in at night. Should I let them stay outside all night?
The pin that is outside is all open except for a wooden part that has wood on 5 sides and is open to the rest of their pin...the wooden part is fairly big...but my concern is that if it were to rain they most likely would get wet but the thing is that where we are it is summer and so rain is very unlikely but it could happen. I'm fairly new to the whole raising chickens so any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

 

[lalaland]

i wouldn't chance the rain at that age, but more importantly, I would be worried about predators - how secure is the pen? can something climb over, jump over, dig under, crawl through....and eat the chicks?

 

[cmom]

I agree with lalaland. My big girls which are 1and 2 yrs old always go into their coop at night before dark. I don't worry about shutting them in but I have their run and yard closed in with an electric fence. Nothing is going to dig under or go over. Sitting out side one night I heard an animal scream most likely from the wire when it touched it. I have accidently touched it and got quite a shock. An animal who weighs considerably less than I do will get quite a wallop.

 

[Animallover903]

Oh no the pin is very secure and plus we don't live were there are a lot of predators but in the chance of one the pin is very secure...and well the night I wrote this it rained so I guess that answered my questions

so thanks for all of the help