What age to allow chicks to roam the yard?

[wallygirl5]

My newbies are 2 weeks - I think tomorrow may be their day to explore. Plus this gives the year old hens a chance to see there are some new kids in the yard

 

[Celticdragonfly]

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I love seeing your cat relaxedly in the company of the chickens! I'm hoping we can achieve that. @Purple Rose has a cat who would really love more backyard time, I'm hoping he can come along while she's tending the chickens.

 

[Elfer]

The cooper's hawks here like to wait until they get pullet size with some meat on them. Encourage blue jays if you have them, as they will sometimes chase hawks off, probably mainly when they are raising young. They mimic the sound of the hawk. I have to check to see whether I'm hearing a hawk or bluejay sometimes.

As to when they can eat bugs, I have a broody with 8 three day old chicks, and I saw one find it's first tiny worm today. Made a soft version of that sound that roosters make when they've found something yummy for the girls. Mom had already been scratching up bugs for them, and showing how to dust bathe. Don't think they caught on to that yet, though she threw some dust their way.

I have an exceptionally docile flock at the moment, and am spending most of my day working outside and supervising. Also, we're having nice warm Ga. weather, and there are tons of hiding places. The other 25 hens, 2 roos, and 1 guinea have 10 acres with lots of things to occupy them, and just come in to lay an egg. They haven't shown a lot of interest in the chicks.

The mama and chicks do have a nest crate with a screen topped dog exercise pen around it within the chicken house. But I'm letting them come and go. A couple hens did wander in and lay an egg in the chicks' nest, but nobody got upset. This mama is a very easy going marans.

The chicks don't appear to get cold. Mama takes breaks to go back to the nest where they get under her, but not as often as you would think. Sometimes Rufus, the guinea, guards them, even though he's a pain in the tailfeathers to everyone else. Last year, one of my mother hens died while her young were not quite old enough to be on their own. Rufus was very attached to that hen and been hanging out with them. He finished raising them just as the mother would have.

I spent most of last summer trying to keep broodies and their chicks captive, constantly refilling and cleaning knocked over pooped in or dirt filled waterers and feeders when the mama showed how to dig and bathe, and cleaning mess on the ground, with mama hens that tried to rip my arm off. I found that when they escaped they did just as well on their own with the chicks. It seemed the chicks developed faster, too. I do have another broody setting, and she and her chicks will have to stay separated so as not to injure the others.

 

[admiralbird]

Sorry if this is a repeat. Too busy to read them all! It's snake season as well.Two week chicks are small enough to be swallowed up by a snake. The half inch hardware cloth is pretty good for this predator.
Crows: They come down and steal baby chicks as well. They likely will not be stopped by the string method for the usual aerial predators.

There is nothing like sunshine and fresh air, but one thing I do to make the indoors better for the new chicks is to dig up, say, a dandelion, roots, dirt and all, and put it in a plastic dish from a frozen dinner with water. I put this in the brooder and it is always the biggest hit among the chicks. They peck the plant and the dirt, likely getting bacteria from the outdoors to inoculate their immune systems. Besides, a blooming dandelion looks so pretty in their pen! It lasts a few days and is easy to replace.

 

[Rockporters]

We have taken our 5 week/3week old chicks out twice so far. They were 3 weeks/1 week their first adventure out.

I didn’t really think anything of it. They don’t roam. I can usually get both sets of chicks to come running by calling them. They rarely go more than a foot or two away. More likely is that they’re playing right on top of us.

 

[cleoandtheflock]

Really any age I let mine out at one week because we had hot weather and they loved it just make sure you have a outdoor brooder setup

On warm days when they were a few weeks old I took out the heat lamp and just put the brooder outside with them in it in part sun part shade and they loved it

They can go outside completely when they are fully feathered at around 6 weeks old

 

[poisondartfrog]

Keep an eye on the sky. I watched helplessly while a hawk took a juvenile RIR when I first started with chickens several years ago . I was standing in the yard not 20 feet from her when the hawk scooped her up on the fly. I was stunned. I watched an owl take another older bird one evening at dusk when I looked out my kitchen window to see if a hen that did not come in from foraging had returned. She was on top of the enclosure and I was on my way to put her up when the owl swooped over the pen and away with her.
Here at least, predation from above is the biggest threat to small breeds and young birds. With my new fledgling flock I use a 6x10 dog kennel that I get help moving around to provide safer foraging for young birds. Even now, hawks dive in close to see if there is an opportunity for a warm meal. My dogs tend to keep 4 legged opportunists in check, but they don't have much impact on winged marauders.

 

[ktpaco]

While this might not seem to be apples to apples, chicks raised by hens can survive immediately in the yard (you see this in Kauai with all the wild chickens), so in all actuality- there is no “harm” in them being in grass/dirt. I don’t have time to read all the posts - but I just wanted to point this out. So now if there is no hen to raise your little ones, you now have to act as mama, and proceed like that. Provide protection, warmth when needed, access to water, be able to contain them so you can gather up at night, etc. their natural immunity to some diseases isn’t built up, unlike the Kauai birds that have acquired that by years of being free, but if your chicks are vaccinated- then they at least have that. So I don’t think there is any right or wrong answer about when they can be out - you just have to have the knowledge on what to do to act as mama in order for them to survive. I hope this helps . Good luck!

 

[10urbanchicks]

I'm new to chickens and I keep my brooder box at the office since I'm there more than I'm home. But I grew lettuce & swiss chard in a flower box and put it in with them. They wiped it out in 2 days but still love scratching in the dirt. They are 3 weeks and I plan on keeping them here until 6 weeks.

 

[Vicker]

Depending on the temperature outside, I'll take mine out at any age for a short, supervised time to expose them to the sounds, the wind, the sun. I'll put them in pen that allows them to scratch around in the grass. Just remember, if a hen were raising them, she'd have them out and about from day one showing them all the things they can eat.