Kicked them out...now what?

[Alaskan]

Yeah that they all came out! Hope tonight isn't too hard.

 

[EsKezzy]

Mine are 6 weeks old too. We had been bringing them in every night b/c they were making such a fuss when it got dark. Tonight is their first night outside. We have the light out there (it's about 55 outside). I think they are ok but we keep checking on them. usually two are on the ground, under the lamp and 1-2 are on the roost. Mine must be special b/c they have loved roosting since about 1.5 weeks old. At first they just had a piece of wood on the ground but that got boring and they were flying up on everything. So, now they are living in a converted dog kennel and I rigged a roosting bar across. I do think mine is a little too narrow and will make it bigger when we finally build their coop (hopefully this weekend).

Crossing my fingers I don't 'chicken out' and bring them back inside.

 

[sdhosick]

We have two sets of chicks. The older ones are about 3 weeks old and LOVE to be outside in small 'coop/yard'. Today we brought home 2 less than week old chicks who got moved into the garage bin, so the older ones are spending the night safely locked in the 'coop' part of their home. I have the heat lamp shining through the window and the thermometer dangling through the roof...it's about 80 in the coop. They aren't huddled together, so I'm guessing they are doing alright.

 

[CamdenLab]

I had to bring in the light as one chick got a peck on her feathery foot and was bleeding so you know how that goes. Anyway, I figured the other 8 could keep each other warm but Shirley was on her own and needed it. They slept in a chick pile by the open pop door so they couldn't have been that cold.

Next morning I went to the store to get something for Shirley and came home to find all but two outside. So I put Shirley outside with them (and watched her freak out about the "peck no more" glob on her foot) and before you know it here comes Laverne and one I have yet to name. Of course they have to fly and smash into the fencing. :-/

They weren't too bad to catch surprisingly enough. At one point around dusk they were all peeping pretty loud so I took that as a hint that they were ready for bed. A couple of them kept trying to get out and would succeed. So I'm shoving them back and recatching them. I decided to put some scratch in their coop to keep them in there and I guess it worked because I went back out about 20 minutes later and they were sound asleep in a pile by the door.

They did roost in the house, pretty high up, actually. I see some poo on the roost now so I know they are able to get up there. I took out the nest boxes for now so they wouldn't get into the habit of sleeping in them. I will put them back when they begin to roost.

This morning they were all outside by 6am.

Not only did I take out the lamp but they are using the big kid feeder and waterer located outside under the coop. The others have been put away. At this point it's about tough love because they are too big, too messy, and there are too many of them for me to coddle!

I'm spending all my free time cleaning the chick dust from my house...

 

[CamdenLab]

Here they are the day before they ventured outside and their first day out. This is when I noticed Shirley's bloody foot as you can see in the first photo. At first I thought the chicks were looking at each other thinking "I will go if you go!", but now I realize that Betty is looking at Shirley's foot and thinking about how tasty it looks.

 

[Sharon Bee]

I have 9. I know they probably don't really need the light so I'm weaning them off. They still seem to enjoy it

. Hopefully by the end of the weekend.

I'm not sure how everyone else simply catches their chicks to place them on the roosts, outside, back inside, etc. For me it takes forever and everyone freaks out! Does everyone else have chicks that stand there when you go to pick them up? Are mine wild? They eat from my hands and a few like to be pet but picking them up is another story.

I just caught 4 of my 11 chicks today to take them on their first "outing" this afternoon for an hour. They are 4 weeks old tomorrow. I have given them treats once in awhile in my hand like oatmeal and meal worms. So when they came to my hand today with a meal worm in it. I just let one eat it then I quickly scooped it up before it knew what was happening. LOL. So one at a time I did this and carried them out to the run outside. I had a temporary wire dog run set up outside with a large sheet of plywood on top, just in case. I can lean over into my brooder which helps too. But some of them are more timid so not sure how easy it will be to scoop them up.

It was cute watching them just stand there at first. Then slowly they began to check out the grass and they thought a few maple keys were an amazing treat - didn't eat them I don't think but they thought they were something special!! So I'm going to take a few out at a time until our coop is ready. It was about 72C today so it is still coolish at night. Their brooder is in our attached garage with the heat lamp on 24/7. OMG!!! Yes, overnight there is a layer of DUST on everything!! I can't believe some people have their chicks in the house!!! It just seemed like suddenly there is this incredible amount of dust which wasn't there before!!

 

[DLV58]

Hi I'm new to chickens and never had a thought of chickens being dusty but boy
I can't wait to get my girls outside and do a final clean up of the dust !!!
The house was the only safe place I had to keep them,,we have 2 large sheds but raccoons can get in them.

 

[Sharon Bee]

Further to my post above, pics of my chicks putside for first time . They are 4 weeks old today.

 

[Sharon Bee]

Hi I'm new to chickens and never had a thought of chickens being dusty but boy
I can't wait to get my girls outside and do a final clean up of the dust !!!
The house was the only safe place I had to keep them,,we have 2 large sheds but raccoons can get in them.

Yes, I hear you. I couldn't believe the dust in our garage suddenly. My 11 chicks are 4 weeks old today. I took the broom to the walls and ceiling as the cobwebs were suddenly evident covered in dust and a layer of dust everywhere!!

I think they are still too young for my coop as I don't want to have the heat lamp on out there which is a vintage brick carriage house built circa 1881. I will post a few pics of it. My husband built the coop inside in one corner of the carriage house - walled in with a partial wall of chicken wire and a door which is close to the back door of the carriage house.

 

[CamdenLab]

Mine are now going on 5 and 6 weeks (Silkies are older) and they are just fine outside. It's warm during the day (70s) and cool at night (50ish) and they are just fine. There are 9 and they cuddle for warmth. I am giving them scratch (cracked corn) to help them stay warm and will discontinue for the summer once they are fully feathered and/or it's warmer out at night. My coop is ventilated but draft-free.

They are very happy being outside! They eat like hogs, nap, sun bathe, play, chase flies, dust bathe, scratch, and nap some more. I have had to put them back inside by hand. However, last night we had progress as I let them stay out late to see if they would put themselves away. They were more than ready around 9pm (not quite dark) and were making a rucus by the man-door to the run. As soon as about half were put in by hand, a few more were anxious to go inside and did not resist me catching them, and three put themselves to bed. Hopefully tonight they do it on their own!