She flew the coop!

[newchik715]

My babies are trying to escape! They have discovered their wings and are flying to the top of the waterer and then one just tried to fly right out. Luckily she did not clear the edge of the brooder. Do I need to put a top on the brooder now? Surely they are not ready to move outside?

 

[NurseNettie]

How old are they, and where is the brooder located? If you don't mind them getting out, you could leave it,or just put something light weight on the top, depending on the brooder size and type. We always had a piece of chicken wire over ours to keep them in. Screens, etc, work too, depending on your set up.

 

[Uzuri]

Screen, wire, anything with holes big enough for air but not for chicks.

Once they figure out that they can get out they're just like a toddler who's learned to climb out of the crib -- they'll be out EVERY opportunity they get!

 

[dwegg]

My girls loved to fly up and perch on the edge of the brooder almost as soon as they could...so i let them from day one.


They hang out there on the edge all day and hop up and down into the brooder for eating and drinking.

Now they are 7 weeks old and are in the garage in a BIG half dog kennel up on a table. They do not have wire on top and they just still hop up on the edge to sleep and sit all day and hop back in to eat and drink...LOVE MY GIRLS!!!!

 

[gryeyes]

I had 8 chicks in my brooder and only two of them ever "escaped" far enough to be out on the bathroom floor. Most of them just perched on the sides, jumping there and back down after a while. The two that got out were at different times; one couldn't get back in and settled down next to the brooder as close to the light end as she could get. Luckily, by this time they didn't need it warmer than 80 degrees, and the bathroom was like a sauna, so she was okay until I got home from work.

The other one was one of the first to perch on the rim of the brooder. I'd seen evidence of her checking out the bathroom counter and sink, and toilet. I opened the bathroom door when I got home from work one day, and she was in the middle of the floor investigating the bath mat. She peeped at me, and scurried back to the brooder, hopped up the the rim, and back into it.

I've got a different brooder this time, with sides just a tad lower, so I may have to put some hardware cloth over it at some point. The new chicks may be able to get out sooner than at "80 degrees warm."

 

[newchik715]

Oh goodness...the same girl is now roosting on top of the waterer. In my set up i think i need to put something on top. between the two dogs and the cat i just can not risk someone forgetting to close the door to the room they are in! Still, it is beyond cute!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Some years ago the wife poked me in the ribs to wake me then said "there's a chick on the end of the bed."

That was my sign that a cover over the brooder would be a good thing.

.....Alan.

 

[newchik715]

that is too funny! Chick on the end of the bed....what an ambitious birdie!

 

[Airilith]

I got nerous when mine started flying up to the sides of the brooder. My fear was that they would fly up and out, and wouldn't be able to get back. So I just used a baby gate I had lying around. It worked great!