Teaching Chicks "Chicken Skills"

[fluffycrow]

Chicks are hatched with most of their instincts. They know how to roost, scratch, peck, drink, eat, fly, etc. You don't have to teach them any of that, and you can't, given the fact you are a human and not a dam. One thing you do have to do is to dip their beak in food and water when you first get them into their new brooder; this is to tell them where they can find those resources.


Usually, people begin to integrate their chicks outside at six weeks.

They do not know what they can and cannot eat. The brooder babies mouth everything until way later than their broody raised counterparts. Like Perris said, trial and error

 

[Kiki]

No you don't have to teach them anything.

I have never once had to show a chick how to drink water on its own.
Build your coop now before you even get the chicks...and then brood the chick in it!

You can put the chicks outside starting on day one if you have a predator proof coop.

 

[Kalobis]

No you don't have to teach them anything.

I have never once had to show a chick how to drink water on its own.
Build your coop now before you even get the chicks...and then brood the chick in it!

You can put the chicks outside starting on day one if you have a predator proof coop.

The coop is almost done now, but the run is ready. Weather here gets really cold in winter so I was planning to brood them in the house, but take them outside for supervised play dates until they’re 6 weeks and their feathers come in.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

They do not know what they can and cannot eat. The brooder babies mouth everything until way later than their broody raised counterparts. Like Perris said, trial and error

As long as you feed them the same food for the rest of their life and keep them in a pen, knowing what to eat and not eat doesn't matter. Some adult chickens still don't know what they shouldn't eat, hence why you see random ones eating even things as strange as glass.

 

[Perris]

How early can they go outside to explore?

my broodies take them out at 2 days old - but broodies can and do provide them with warmth and shelter as required. You need to pay close attention to the temperature and weather until they are fully feathered. Once feathered they should be fine. Till then, I'd only take them out when it's nice and warm and sunny, and supervise closely, ready to bring them in again if they're looking uncomfortable.

 

[rosemarythyme]

How early can they go outside to explore?

Technically, pretty much as soon as you get them. My brooder is outdoors for example, however because 2-3 day old chicks are so small and can easily squirt free, I minimize handling and out-of-the-brooder time at first while they get a bit bigger. Earliest I've actually let them loose in the run has been 10 days old (it was nice weather at 69F, they had about 45 minutes to explore). At 15 days old (low-mid 60's F) that same group had full coop and run access during the day.

Since we're in fall, the weather may not be as agreeable with letting them out early, or you may need to let them out for shorter periods of time at first in order to acclimate to outside temperatures and conditions.

Oh, and as far as the original question, for the most part their instincts will kick in and tell them what to do to be chickens, without any help from you. Probably the toughest one is roosting... chicks with older birds to emulate will generally reliably roost much earlier without any help from you. Chicks without older birds around may take longer to figure it out, or may need human encouragement in order to use a roost.

 

[Evadig]

Chicks without older birds around may take longer to figure it out, or may need human encouragement in order to use a roost.

Don’t worry if they’re still not roosting at twelve weeks - they’ll figure it out eventually (mine did at thirteen weeks).

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Don’t worry if they’re still not roosting at twelve weeks - they’ll figure it out eventually (mine did at thirteen weeks).

I second this－I actually don't worry about them roosting at all, because mine get locked up in a pen during the night, so it doesn't matter to me whether they decide to roost or sleep on the ground.

 

[fluffycrow]

Don’t worry if they’re still not roosting at twelve weeks - they’ll figure it out eventually (mine did at thirteen weeks).

Mine did at 2 weeks

 

[Debbie292d]

my broodies take them out at 2 days old - but broodies can and do provide them with warmth and shelter as required. You need to pay close attention to the temperature and weather until they are fully feathered. Once feathered they should be fine. Till then, I'd only take them out when it's nice and warm and sunny, and supervise closely, ready to bring them in again if they're looking uncomfortable.

I was going to say pretty much this exact thing. A bonus to getting them outside early too is they build up resistances early on.