Letting New Chickens Roam Free

[centrarchid]

From what I can gather from reading the forums, I can put the babies in their coop at about 4-6 weeks old, then after a couple weeks start letting them out to free range an hour or so before sunset, gradually increasing their time out until they're out all day. Am I understanding that correctly? Thanks again for all the advice & help!

That is what I do with standard sized fowl. With bantam sized birds and hawks (Coopers) in particular, predator management will be a more serious concern.

 

[HouseCat]

My guess would be some type of "Game" breed, probably Old English Games. The roos are definitely beautiful birds. I put my chicks in the coop at 4 weeks and just put a make-shift chicken wire fence around it. They can't really fly very high at that age and I don't have any predators around that bother mine. After 2 weeks, I take my fence down and let them come and go as they please. They usually stay pretty close to the coop.

ps(I am so jealous of your feral chickens!)

 

[devora]

From what I can gather from reading the forums, I can put the babies in their coop at about 4-6 weeks old, then after a couple weeks start letting them out to free range an hour or so before sunset, gradually increasing their time out until they're out all day. Am I understanding that correctly?

A-OK. Right on the money. Hunky dory.

Are you going to put them in w/ the grown ups or will they have their own coop?