How much time outside

[ladyhand]

My coop is taking longer than I anticipated to finish up. I've told myself the coop must be completed by the end of the long holiday weekend, and I'm going to have to get the run finished hopefully too.... honestly I'm not sure what to expect ease wise with the run as I'm kind of making it up as I go along.

However, I try taking my 5 week old ladies outside at least 1-2 hours a day (they are in a brooder in our house), but it's so hottttt outside and I am absolutely covered in mosquito bites from their fieldtrips. They seem so happy roaming around. I have some regular chicken netting that is plastic and not at all predator proof, but if I'm home during the day to keep an eye out, is it ok to set something up kind of temporary for them to roam around in in the meantime? I've been aiming for the 6 week fully feathered thing. Are they ok to be in the brooder most of the time at this age? I'd let them just roam my fenced in back yard, but they really love going straight for my tomato and green bean plants (queue eye roll) and I'm terrified they'll get swooped up by hawks although they really do tend to stay underneath things or in super small spaces.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You have to decide for yourself the level of risk you are willing to tolerate - then adjust if/when you find you were wrong.

To your other ?questions? I can offer a picture of 3 wk old birds out on my property this AM. They join the 6 wk old birds who have been been out in the grow out pen, and their elder siblings who have been free ranging, and their elder siblings, and their elder siblings... (you get the point)

The cage, door open, is just some PVC and plastic netting I use to facilitate "see and be seen" flock integrations. Absolutely NOT predator proof, but it keeps the littles mostly contained, and keeps the bigger birds mostly out of the little's food. There's some paper thin scrap nylon fabric on top for shade - as you can see from the photo, the weave is so loose you can see thru it. The PVC cage is currently sitting in the grow out pen - T posts and ice netting - inside my pasture against my barn (they have a pop door that leads to a hen house inside), inside 4.5 acres protected by an electric fence. They now live out there, and will transition to one of the hen houses for layer training in about three weeks, when they are replaced by last night's hatching.

My veggies are on the other side of the fence, protected by more T posts and more bird netting. Your birds can be out, assuming you have weather and overnight shelter for them, 24/7 in your current climate at those ages.

 

[yakitori]

I took my brooder babies last year outside just before 3 weeks. I left them outside all day in a secure pen in the front yard which I could see from my window. I don't have too much of a predator problem here though...