It's OK to bring my chicks to outside???

[Toi-toi]

My 2weeks old chicks just start getting grit. I just started today.
Not sure how much they are eating. Here and there I saw they are pecking but not sure eating, tho.

My question is....
Is it OK to bring outside to play for while??
I know if I put them out in my backyard, they are start pecking and eating green grass, etc...
If they don't have enough grit in their body, it will cause trouble to play and eat outside??

 

[PriceFamilyFarms]

I started taking mine out for a few minutes at a time when it was nice and warm then increased it a little more each day. They thrived on being outside and loved to run and play. They started picking black ants right away and soon learned to camp out where the ants came out of the ground - they got a nice treat and I got rid of just about every ant around the yard. Now they free range throughout the day and head to the coop at night. And are happy, healthy girls at 8 weeks.

 

[Peppermint]

Possibly hijacking thread...but related to grit: my chicks are two weeks old too, and i have a cup of sandy dirt in their brooder when I give them treats, but they LOVE the grit and will eat and eat and eat it. Is there a "too much" limit?

 

[Toi-toi]

Quote:
I heard if too much grit is not good because they don't eat enough food. But it's not going to same spot... Not sure...

 

[ponygal12]

Quote:
My chicks do that too! They turn a week old today and I've only given it to them once. I had to take it away after three minutes. Sorry, back to original post.

 

[sydney13]

i think if they are on commercial feeds then they don't need to have grit because its already in it. ive headr not to give the grit after a few days just so they dont fill up on it but after that you can give it to them. and if they go outside then they will be picking up little pebbles for grit so they should be fine.

 

[elmo]

Chicks being raised by a hen go outside on their first few days, sometimes hours, out of the shell. It's fine. But without a hen to keep an eye on them, you'll need to do that instead. They'll peep loudly when they're too cold, and pant and hold their wings out if they're too hot (don't put them in a pen without shade if it's hot and sunny out).

 

[chocolate m'scovy]

I feed my chicks commercial chick crumble, and I've never fed my babies grit. They are usually put out on grass when they are a week or less old. (Their pen is partially covered and they are kept warm by a heat lamp when they are this young, and when they are older, at night.) They are free to eat all the gritty stuff they can find. I agree with sydney13 that they will find as much grit as they need!

 

[eastbaychicks]

My babies have been going out since their second day. Only for about an hour a day, you can see when they all start getting exhausted and need to nap. Mama hen isn't too good at paying attention to that so I've been putting them away when they're getting tired. They love it! Also I haven't given them any grit, I figure they're picking it up off the dirt while they're outside. OMG today one baby that's just about a week old swalled an entire earth worm. And another ate a rather large spider. Mom picked it out for them and they ate it! Amazing how this all works. I have no idea how that worm fit in the babies crop, but it did and the birdie was very happy.

 

[PriceFamilyFarms]

we just had a couple days of good rains here and I let my girls out after keeping them in the coop for 2 days...they went right to the front yard along the walkway and swallowed every earthworm the could get their little beaks on...

My mother in law comments on how green our lawn is compared to hers and how she never sees any bugs around our place...I tell her it's the chickens - she just won't beleive me..lol