What age to allow chicks to roam the yard?

[Lavender Wraps]

Some, well maybe a lot of folks don't like crows. I started feeding the local crows years ago when I saw they chase a large hawk off. Now I grab a slice or two of bread, break it up, walk outside and call them. They must have excellent hearing because they show up very quickly. I like to watch them gather up the pieces of bread. They pick up one piece and carry it over to another. They pick up those two pieces and then to another. They gather up as much or more than their beak can hold. They are very smart. I lost a litter of bunnies in a freeze. We had Flush Clean Trays that hung under the rabbit cages. I was flushing the trays into the pasture when I spotted the dead litter. I dropped on in the tray and flushed it out for the birds (recycling). A crow picked it up and put it down a couple feet away. Then I flushed another, then another and so on. The crow came back to that same spot and waited for each one. When there was no more it then gathered up it's stash and few away with it. All this being said, the crows nest close to our farm. Mostly in the Eucalyptus trees and in the Cottonwood trees.

My husband was coming out of the barn one day, when he walked into the breezeway just outside the door, he saw the chickens running for the cover to the breezeway with a large hawk at their tails. Just before the hawk grabbed one a crow hit it from behind, it flew off without the chicken! My husband said this all happened very quickly. We see hawks fly over all the time with crows right behind them. So, I feed the crows!

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

I start taking chicks out for a daily supervised half hour outing, weather permitting, when they are about a week old or sometimes even less. I do only tend to have fewer than 10 chicks and keep them in a small wire netted frame on grass in my back yard so they are not too tricky to move back to their brooder.
When raised by a mother hen, chicks leave the nest with the hen around 5-7 days I've noticed. I believe that exposing chicks to soil etc at very young age is good for them and as 'natural' as possible. (I do ensure they have access to chick grit in their brooder once exposed to grass and bugs though).

 

[ZoomuKeeper]

I made a play pen type area enclosed with 1 inch hard wire cloth and a chicken wire top that I threw a sheet over for shade left food and water and a perch and my 3 week old polish had a ball eating grass and small bugs

 

[ZoomuKeeper]

Now My Brahmas were 10 weeks before I let them loose in the yard completely without supervision. I still check up on them and have to put them to bed at night. Teenagers you know

 

[Chickassan]

It really dosent need them, it is light enough to slide easily with chicks inside.
Just have to be careful not to get any toes during the slide.

I love it!!! I’m a stay at home fur, fin, and feather mom. I can set one of those up in minutes tomorrow! Thank you!!

If it had wheels it would be much easier to move with the chickens in it.[/QUOTE]

 

[Spiritsmeadow]

Hi ~ I built a covered run with a little door so they go right out of the coop into a very safe area. In the Spring I seed it with a good forage mix from Territorial Seed CO., or one from Peaceful Valley. I provide them a 3 gallon drinker and food, an old wooden ladder on its side so they have a lot of room to perch, and I sit there, I knit or read, and they especially love Mexican Salsa music. My Great Pyrenees guardian keeps a close watch over them, and I have one HUGE White Orpinton rooster who stomps around peering in on them too. Never leave them out there alone, even in a covered run! Here in eastern CO, its still too cold now in the middle of May, but next month or when the weather turns warn, they'll be outside and that will be about 4 weeks ~ depending on the daytime temperatures. I don't want them out in less then 70 degrees and if its windy, it has to be warmer than that. Good Luck!!

 

[3 NH reds]

Free range is a toss up for us. WE live in a rural town in Mass so we have all kinds of predators. WE never free ranged before last year because of this. However last year our first coop of Buff Orpinton's got out by accident and we had to chase them down, it was getting late and none were near the coop and we lost one of them, never to be seen again. Our second coop has a mixed breed birds, half Jersey Giant and half Red Ranger. They dug a hole under the wire mesh and got out but they went back in the same way, they are old so we let them and had no problems. This year we had new chicks, 3 Barred Rock and 5 Golden Comet. We added them to the mixed breed coop at 6 weeks old. We lost 2 of the Rock's the first night, they never came back and the second rock 2 days later. We saw them go into the woods and that was the end. The comets followed the old birds around and we never lost one. I have to think some breeds are better free rang than others given our luck.

 

[trudyg]

My hen-hatched chicks were penned up for week 1, then mom took chicks out into the yard--all day every day. Yes, she is with them and they get under her, but you'd be surprised at how long they are not under her. Next time, I don't think I'll pen them up at all. My only problem is that they don't always follow her in at night.....

 

[msmidwick]

I just integrated 6 babies into my 12 chicken flock of old ladies. The babies get medicated baby feed for the first 4 months and are separated in a 'nursery' until they are 4 months, But, the nursery is right with the old ladies, just separated with chicken wire. This way they all get to meet each other and it is easy when they are together all the time. We took down the separation about 3 weeks ago and the babies are learning from the old ladies how to get back into the pen when it is time to go to bed. The pecking order is in full force and interesting to watch. We watch them all go to the enclosed coop one by one in the order they are allowed to roost for the night!
We let all of them out about 5pm to roam for a couple hours (they roam about 1/2 acre). But, I get all of them back to the pen/coop by 7:30pm with cabbage and tomato scraps. They follow me like the pied piper back to the pen and the babies follow. It is quite a sight as some will take food from my hand now and let me pick them up. They would get back in the coop at sundown even if I didn't feed them, but I don't like to go out at dark to close the pen door - we live in Florida and the mosquitoes are awful!

 

[Elfer]

Free range is a toss up for us. WE live in a rural town in Mass so we have all kinds of predators. WE never free ranged before last year because of this. However last year our first coop of Buff Orpinton's got out by accident and we had to chase them down, it was getting late and none were near the coop and we lost one of them, never to be seen again. Our second coop has a mixed breed birds, half Jersey Giant and half Red Ranger. They dug a hole under the wire mesh and got out but they went back in the same way, they are old so we let them and had no problems. This year we had new chicks, 3 Barred Rock and 5 Golden Comet. We added them to the mixed breed coop at 6 weeks old. We lost 2 of the Rock's the first night, they never came back and the second rock 2 days later. We saw them go into the woods and that was the end. The comets followed the old birds around and we never lost one. I have to think some breeds are better free rang than others given our luck.

Early this spring one of my free range hens kept running in and out of the woods acting broody. I would follow and she'd be looking for nesting possibilities, but I would convince her to follow me back. But one day she disappeared, and I decided she'd probably been eaten by a cooper's hawk, since they perch in those woods. After around 3 weeks she showed back up, not acting broody, but with no chicks. Don't know if she had some eggs that got eaten, rotted, or whatever.