First day on the loose!

[sunflowerparrot]

So - I've been raising 5 chicks in my tub.. they are about 5 weeks old now and going outside for the first time ever. We have 27 acres... Can I just let them go! And roam! Or will they take right off and we'll never be able to get them? There will be 2 people supervising for the little bit of time we were going to have them peck bugs/roots/etc. Then in the little coop they go..

I was thinking of maybe just letting 2 out at a time instead of all 5? Suggestions and warnings are needed please! Thanks

 

[bj taylor]

they won't have any point of reference at all. they won't have any clue where home is. the advice is usually to keep them in the coop for about 10 days or so. that way when they get out, they know to come back to it.

if you're just letting them out for a bit, corraling them isn't always easy. if you use a broom or a grass rake to herd them it works pretty good.

have fun.

 

[Red Barn Farms]

Just as bj has pointed out you will want them inside their outdoor coop for a period of at least one week with two being the best. After that you can let them out to forage and at dusk they will know to head back 'home' to their coop to roost for the night. Then I'd shut the coop door at night to avoid predators. Is one a rooster? Roosters sure help in protecting the flock from predators during the day. Give them plenty of ventilation in the coop along with fresh water and food and ya'll have a happy flock. Have fun and enjoy!

 

[dretd]

If you have been hand-rearing them, they are probably convinced you are the food dispenser and that will make it easier to round them up but not necessarily catch them. If you have a controlled area (ie fenced) start there and have your scratch/crumbles/treats with you and call out chick-chick or whatever you want to call them and give them treats. Mine come running when they see me come out the back door because they know the treat-lady has arrived!

If you are intending to keep them out permanently, I totally agree with BJ Taylor and keep them shut up in their new home until they learn that's where they belong. It will likely take only a few days.

 

[centrarchid]

I do similar with brooder reared but the point of reference is no small deal. I imprint mine on a box for a few days while still in brooder. Then they are taken out with box and confined with box in a pen over night. Late the next day I let them all out but make certain they can get back into pen to box. After a single day of this they can be let in AM and be expected to return to box at night.

Predators have not been addressed.

 

[MelanieR]

Our first chicks this spring were 4 EE's. (And two ducks.)

I didn't realize we should have put them in their coop for that long before letting them loose so against any knowledge we put them in their coop one evening and then turned them out the next morning. Corralling all 6 of them in there was a bit challenging for a couple of days but they got the hang of it pretty quickly.

 

[centrarchid]

You guys are having to keep them confined to pen so long because they are not imprinted to anything in the new environment. I gave a tip, learn from it so you will not keep making same mistakes.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Don't know yet who is rooster or hen I put them in our rabbit hutch and they'll stay there for a few weeks until I can finish their little temp coop with a fenced run. They've lived in my bathtub since I got the as little baby chicks 5 weeks ago.. here is the hutch... We put shavings on one side and in the nest box (this was used for rabbits at one time and will again in the future) and then on the other end, I put a pallet in so I can raise their food and water and no shavings on that end. They're in the shade in the late afternoons, but won't be in the early morning/early afternoon. I was more concerned getting them in shade at the end of the day rather than the beginning since that is when the high temp is reached.

 

[centrarchid]

Be thinking predators next.

 

[RonC]

Once you finish the coop/run you will have to reimprint that is their new home but that's ok. I would lock them in the new chicken area for a week or so before letting them free range. Just make sure they learn to sleep in the coop. Some lock them inside the coop for a week, or just go out ever evening just after dark and lock them inside for the night will also work. I don't know how hot it is there but locking them inside in the day would not be an option for me. I would have baked chicken.