Letting chicks free range at 6 weeks?

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Hello everyone! As the title says, would free ranging chicks at 6 weeks old be a bad idea? I found a thread from a couple years ago, and most people said that kt
Would be perfectly fine, but I wanted to get y’all’s opinion. This is the thread I found

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-age-can-chickens-free-range.562244/page-4

Thank you all!

 

[sourland]

At that age and size they are extremely vulnerable to attack by raptors.

 

[WIchickMama]

At that age and size they are extremely vulnerable to attack by raptors.

I would also think (possibly) fox or neighborhood dogs or like animals

 

[NatJ]

Hello everyone! As the title says, would free ranging chicks at 6 weeks old be a bad idea? I found a thread from a couple years ago, and most people said that kt
Would be perfectly fine, but I wanted to get y’all’s opinion. This is the thread I found

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-age-can-chickens-free-range.562244/page-4

Thank you all!

Predators are the main issue.

6 week chicks are old enough to find their way home at night, make reasonable judgements about what things to eat, and deal with almost any temperature they are likely to encounter. (Day-old chicks will typically fail all of those points, unless they are with a mother hen who can provide warmth and guidance.)

But many predators like to eat chickens, and even more predators like to eat small chickens. Adult chickens in the same flock may deter some of the smaller predators, so a flock of just chicks is in more danger than a flock with a mix of ages. I would consider what predators are in your area, consider how tolerant you are of losing chicks to predators, and make a decision from there. If you cannot bear to ever lose a single chick, free ranging is probably not for you.

There are cases where predators get them all on the first day of free ranging, and cases where someone free ranges their chickens and never loses any. Both of those cases are fairly rare. It is much more common to lose one here and another there, or be fine for quite a while and then lose them all within a few days (because a predator discovers this source of easy food.)

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

Hello everyone! As the title says, would free ranging chicks at 6 weeks old be a bad idea? I found a thread from a couple years ago, and most people said that kt
Would be perfectly fine, but I wanted to get y’all’s opinion. This is the thread I found

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-age-can-chickens-free-range.562244/page-4

Thank you all!

I have all my 7 week old babies out in a big run, they are completely fine. But as the other replies said predators a the main concern but also I have a great pyrenees who would never let anything get near them. And also would they be in a place where other chickens have lived?

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Go ahead and free range them, keep in mind that they are still learning to watch for predetors and how to escape them so only do so if your yard is safe of course.

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Thanks everyone so much for helping me! We own about four acres, and it is not fenced in, so they could really go anywhere they liked. We do have some bald eagles, hawks, coyotes, *sometimes* foxes, and I once saw a weasel. But our property is covered in low pine trees and tall grass, so they could hide and get away from predators easily. They do really well free ranging when I am supervising, and they stay really close to the coop. With this kind of property, when do you think they will
Be ready? Thanks again!

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

I have all my 7 week old babies out in a big run, they are completely fine. But as the other replies said predators a the main concern but also I have a great pyrenees who would never let anything get near them. And also would they be in a place where other chickens have lived?

Thanks so much for replying! No, these are my first chickens, so they will be the only ones.

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

Thanks so much for replying! No, these are my first chickens, so they will be the only ones.

Good, I was worried about coccidiosis.

 

[LizGio]

They are fine to free ranges as long as it's supervised until they get much bigger. They will most likely be able to find grit to digest any buggies they might find but an additional supplement wouldn't hurt. And by supervised free range I mean you are right there next to them.