Security & chicks playing outside?

[Jen71]

We are building our coop, so it's not ready yet. It's going to be a few more weeks till its ready.
We want to take our chicks outside to play, but we want to be safe too.

We have a large size suburban backyard with a fence around the perimeter.

I am SO eager to bring my 4 week old chicks outside to let them play outside, but I am terrified of losing one.

Here are my questions:

- Will they come back to me or stay close to me outside?
- Will they run away and be difficult to catch to put them back in their brooder?
- What precautions should I take if I take them outside for a play? (cats, hawks?)
- Should I bring their brooder outside with me (its very large, so 2 ppl need to carry it) - They can fly back into it for security?
- My other option is a small metal rabbit cage, but that doesn't let them run free. At least they're outside though.
- Or should I just wait a few more weeks till we have a safe coop and run prepared?

Sorry if this seems funny. I am new to this and very excited about our chicks.

Thanks in advance!

 

[musson]

My problem was catching them. If you let them loose in the house can you catch them?

 

[Jen71]

Quote:
Yeah - it can be tricky. Some of them come right up to me, but one runs away. I can only get her if she is cornered.

 

[Esteri]

Do you have any friends who raise / show dogs? Ask if you can borrow an ex-pen for a couple of week. We used ours to contain our babies with a piece of poultry netting clipped to the top. It worked perfectly.

Here's a URL to what they are: http://www.jbpet.com/SearchResult.aspx?deptIdFilter=0&searchPhrase=exercise+pen . I recommend the metal ones - mine is 20 years old.

Yeah - we used the whelping box as a brooder too. Turns out infants of any species need pretty much the same stuff. Really like the Dura-whelp for ease of use, easy to clean, and, well - durable. Ours is 4' x 4' and should easily hold 25 chicks to 3 or 4 week so age. Here's the URL to that too: http://www.jbpet.com/Dura-Whelp-Whelping-Box,983.html

Esteri

 

[The Egg Bandit]

I have found that three or four metal t-posts surrounded by 3' high chicken wire contains my chickies well until they get older. It is easy to pull the t-posts out of the ground and move the pen as needed. Sometimes one will figure out how to sneak under the fence, and then I have to put some 2 x 4's along the bottom.

ETA: Of course this is only a daytime playpen, not designed for extended stays.

 

[Jen71]

If I do something temporary with posts and wire, I will need to stay out there with them, right?
We have cats roaming around here and a cat would rip through my little temporary structure in a second. So if I am sitting there, they'll be less likely to attack - hopefully.

Does anyone let their chicks free range?

 

[The Egg Bandit]

See the other thread about the chicken hawk.

 

[Esteri]

We didn't chick sit. In fact, we'd leave them out all day and get on with our chores, errands, etc.

We have both feral cats, and a cat of our own. Since the chick play yard was close to the house the feral cats left it alone. Our cat stalked the chicks - but couldn't get through the ex-pen (1" x 2" wire opening) - and was too lazy to really work at it. He just batted at one of the chicks that had fallen asleep by the wire. Scared it silly, but didn't hurt it. After that - he left them alone. No payoff for all the stalking work. Of course - he is 12, and thinks the world owes him a living. (He's a CAT - right?)

The play yard was 3' high, and had poultry netting clipped to the top. It wouldn't have kept out a truly determined predator - coon or cat. But, we didn't leave them out in it at night.
.