Outside space

[britinpa]

I'm thinking of putting our chicks out into the coop at around 8 weeks. We have a fence around the coop and will be creating a covered area for them to go outside. My question is: is there an age where chickens can range safely during the day with no cover? I read that a hawk can carry off a full grown chicken

 

[DobieLover]

I'm thinking of putting our chicks out into the coop at around 8 weeks. We have a fence around the coop and will be creating a covered area for them to go outside. My question is: is there an age where chickens can range safely during the day with no cover? I read that a hawk can carry off a full grown chicken

A hawk can't carry off a full grown chicken but it can easily kill it.
I let my broodies take their chicks out as soon as 2 days old.
I'd move my chicks out to the coop and run at 5 weeks in this weather.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It should have a cover before they are out there.

Hawks can kill grown large breed birds. I have a neighbor that HAD leghorns....until the hawks came. Kinda gross running out to see what my dogs are barking at and it is a hawk with what was a white chicken on the power pole.

Fox can easily jump a 6' fence by the way, and raccoons climb very well.

 

[britinpa]

It should have a cover before they are out there.

Hawks can kill grown large breed birds. I have a neighbor that HAD leghorns....until the hawks came. Kinda gross running out to see what my dogs are barking at and it is a hawk with what was a white chicken on the power pole.

Fox can easily jump a 6' fence by the way, and raccoons climb very well.

Thanks for the quick reply. We are new to this, and still learning new things daily. I had thought they were safe from hawks once they were fully grown, but I have learned something new today. My father-in-law lets his roam unfenced, but he has lost a handful of his since getting 20+ chickens last year. We have a fenced area - chicken wire - and have realized that we are going to need something sturdier - i just read another thread on here that hardware cloth fencing is good. Our coop is in an open field opposite our house. We have all sorts of predators around here, including black bear and fishers

 

[britinpa]

A hawk can't carry off a full grown chicken but it can easily kill it.
I let my broodies take their chicks out as soon as 2 days old.
I'd move my chicks out to the coop and run at 5 weeks in this weather.

Hi, it is pretty warm here too. My chicks will be 5 weeks this Thursday - I have one straggler, who's a little behind (probably by a week or so), so want to keep them in the brooder together for a little while longer, though I'm certain they're desperate to get outside. When I open their brooder lid some of them are always trying to escape

 

[21hens-incharge]

To help with ground predators I vote for electric fencing. Not much will be a physical barrier to a bear....but electric will give them a good zap on the nose making them respect it.

I see this brand recommended fairly often.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/fencing.php

There are many brands and sizes out there. I don't personally use it as I am in the middle of town and my birds are confined unless someone is with them 100% of the time they are out.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Always some level of risk with free ranging - if you can't stand the thought of losing a single bird, free ranging isn't right for you.

Even having them in a run isn't necessarily 100% foolproof as it can be difficult to truly predator proof a run against all possible predators in an area.

 

[aart]

We have all sorts of predators around here, including black bear and fishers

HOT wire!!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/a-treatise-on-electric-fences-for-poultry.72229/

 

[K0k0shka]

Chicks can move out to the coop much younger than a lot of people think. Some people brood them out in the coop to begin with. Especially in warm summer weather, there's no need to have 8-week-olds indoors in a brooder. I moved mine out to the coop at 3 weeks old back in the spring (they used supplemental heat for a couple of weeks but weaned themselves off of it sooner than I thought they would).

 

[britinpa]

Chicks can move out to the coop much younger than a lot of people think. Some people brood them out in the coop to begin with. Especially in warm summer weather, there's no need to have 8-week-olds indoors in a brooder. I moved mine out to the coop at 3 weeks old back in the spring (they used supplemental heat for a couple of weeks but weaned themselves off of it sooner than I thought they would).

I think they are probably done with being in the brooder, we just now want to change their outside run to include a roof, before i'm happy to put them out there