Raising baby chicks during the summertime

[Blooie]

Hey, but I was first to brood outdoors with Mama Heating Pad and integrate chicks at just a couple of weeks old......well, after a few smarter-than-me people I was first! I did, however, (and totally without shame) steal @azygous portal door system. Works far better than my old system of wiring the brooder door open.

 

[azygous]

Hey, but I was first to brood outdoors with Mama Heating Pad and integrate chicks at just a couple of weeks old......well, after a few smarter-than-me people I was first! I did, however, (and totally without shame) steal @azygous portal door system. Works far better than my old system of wiring the brooder door open.

Totally correct. If it weren't for @Blooie posting her now legendary thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/, many of us would still be struggling with the old fashioned method of brooding in a box indoors. Brooding chicks outdoors was an exciting idea I quickly embraced.

After my initial adoption of the concept, I experimented and discovered that I could safely and easily integrate baby chicks with the adult flock when the chicks were as young as two weeks old, using the panic room method - a safe enclosure that only chicks were small enough to gain access.

 

[Blooie]

And we never looked back, did we? So many of us doing this now, and the portal doors were the absolute key to making it work so well!! Before the doors, my chicks could get back into their brooder but they usually had to "run the fence" back and forth several times to find the opening. After the portal doors the gateway was so obvious to them that they could run right straight in! Game changer!!

 

[Shorty22366]

I moved my babies out to the coop at 4 days old. Used brinsa heater for 2 nights then turned it off. I have them in a dog crate with fencing around it so they can see big babies and the big babies can see them but not touch them. Reading this I am wondering if they can be let out with big babies. If so do I let them go outside with the rest or keep them inside until they are fully feathered. They are 15 days old now.

 

[lazy gardener]

Free ranging small chicks is risky business. It depends on your risk tolerance. A crow, even a blue jay or a snake could easily grab a small chick. Not to mention the hawk threat. If your run is covered and built so that the chicks can not squirt through any small openings, and if it is plenty big enough, with plenty of places for them to hide, I'd do a supervised integration. 2 weeks is a golden age for integration. The chicks have their flight feathers, and can easily outmaneuver the older birds. I'm enjoying watching my 2 week old chicks darting around the run. Granted, they have Mama go show them the ropes, and to defend them, but... I have no doubt they would also do well without her. They are venturing far from her side now.

 

[Shorty22366]

Free ranging small chicks is risky business. It depends on your risk tolerance. A crow, even a blue jay or a snake could easily grab a small chick. Not to mention the hawk threat. If your run is covered and built so that the chicks can not squirt through any small openings, and if it is plenty big enough, with plenty of places for them to hide, I'd do a supervised integration. 2 weeks is a golden age for integration. The chicks have their flight feathers, and can easily outmaneuver the older birds. I'm enjoying watching my 2 week old chicks darting around the run. Granted, they have Mama go show them the ropes, and to defend them, but... I have no doubt they would also do well without her. They are venturing far from her side now.

I have a 40ftx40ft run and yes it is like fort Knox. I have 1/4 inch hardware cloth over 1 in fencing for added strength, 1 foot buried underground, and the top in 1/4 inch poultry netting enforced with rope cross crossing underneath it. My coop is 16x20 just built by a friend who made sure it was 100% secure.(If a tornado ever comes I am going to stay in the coop with my babies because it is put together better than my house. Lol). If I let the babies out with my big babies I would definitely be out there with them. My big ones are Silkies and Sebrights. My Silkies are 9 months old and my Sebrights are 4 months old. I really don't think they will hurt the babies. I have one silkie hen sitting on 5 eggs. Due to hatch July 11 or 12. I will let them out in the coop today and see how it goes.

 

[lazy gardener]

Your biggest threat will be when your Silkie hatches her babies and takes them out into the run. She will most likely consider the older babies to be the greatest threat to her brood. But, you have plenty of room, so that should not be an issue. Chicks are fast learners, and they will quickly learn to stay away from Mama and her brood.

 

[Shorty22366]

Your biggest threat will be when your Silkie hatches her babies and takes them out into the run. She will most likely consider the older babies to be the greatest threat to her brood. But, you have plenty of room, so that should not be an issue. Chicks are fast learners, and they will quickly learn to stay away from Mama and her brood.

That is what I was thinking also. But my Silkie also goes and checks on this chicks also. This is her first hatch. I hope it goes good for her. She is so sweet.