Need help with One week old baby chicks

[gunitgill88]

Hello everyone, I have five baby chicks and the mama hen in this 2.5ft x 2.5ft cage, I am wondering if they will be okay if I kept them in this space for a couple weeks without letting them out? Or should I be letting them and their mama our for an hour or so everyday? The cage is inside an insulated garage and I put a fan pointing up and away from their cage to keep the wind moving.

 

[HappyClucker7]

I would definitely let them out as often as you can. My momma hen took her babies out for the first time when they were just a few days old, and they have spent every day outside since then.

 

[azygous]

The hen needs space and so do the chicks. The hen needs to be able to find and pick up grit for digestion. She will get sick if she doesn't. She will be teaching this to her chicks. The hen will be integrating the chicks into the flock, if you have more chickens. She needs access soon in order to do that.

The hen and chicks need direct sunlight to absorb vitamin D for bodily functions and bone growth. Keeping them indoors prevents this.

Exposure to the soil during the first two weeks enhances the chicks' immune systems as they are exposed to healthy microbes. Depriving them of this weakens them over their life span.

There are many wonderful and entertaining aspects of a mama hen rearing her hen naturally and freely. Allowing this will benefit you, too.

 

[gunitgill88]

Thanks for the reply, my plan is to build a 6foot long PVC frame run for them that I can place them in outside when we are home. Would letting them out for an hour a day be good enough you think?

 

[wyochick10]

I agree with @HappyClucker7. I currently have a hen with 2 week old chicks. The brooder is in the main coop so they all can see each other and she had them out within that first week. I fear that if you keep them all separated you will run into re-integration/intergration issues with the mom and the babies.

 

[gunitgill88]

I actually just bought this particular hen and chicks last week, I have a flock of 9 bantams that have their own coop and run. Unfortunately I can’t let them free range but I followed the square foot rule for the bantams for their coop and run size. We are also moving into a new house sept.1 where I am getting a Carolina coops style coop and run built for them. This particular hen and chicks I am raising for a month or so for my uncle, he has a big farm with 40 other birds. We just couldn’t keep this hen and chicks with that flock because they have killed baby chicks before and the first mother hen spent her whole time fighting off all the other hens.

 

[azygous]

You will need to integrate the mother hen before she can integrate her chicks. This is how I integrate a new adult chicken into my flock. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/

 

[gunitgill88]

You will need to integrate the mother hen before she can integrate her chicks. This is how I integrate a new adult chicken into my flock. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/

Yes thank you....my plan was to use a bigger cage once I take the mother and chicks to the farm to keep them in during the day outside where the chickens are

 

[gunitgill88]

Do you guys think an hour to two hours a day outside would be good enough for them ?

 

[azygous]

Yes, it will help a lot.