What age to allow chicks to roam the yard?

[Jeffeff95]

We let our chicks out just this past weekend, they just turned 6 weeks.
We would have put them out a bit earlier but it was freezing here.
They have their own little area for now and when they are a bit bigger then will go into the big coop with the rest of the flock.

 

[Henry&Friends]

You can take them out -under constant supervision- at 2 weeks, and move them out (permanently) at 6. At least, that’s how we do ours.

 

[nova022]

I put mine outside regularly starting at a month old but they go in a little fenced area so I can easily put them back in their brooder. I don't leave them unattended. I usually go by size rather than age to let them free range unattended. When I feel they are too heavy for a hawk to carry off they have the run of the place until dark and then they are locked in a coop with half inch hardware cloth covering it. Since they put themselves in the coop at night, it is really no problem. We have a lot of nocturnal predators so locking them up is a must.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We kept ours confined in the well house for about the first 4 weeks, mostly because we have three cats. We wanted to be sure the chicks looked more like chickens than like tasty little baby birds! It was also still cold, windy and rainy so that worked out pretty well.

We used chain-link dog-kennel panels to build them a fair-sized run adjacent to the Big Girls' run and bought a storage shed as a coop for at night. We'll keep the flocks separate until the younger ones are 4 months old (mid-July) and can switch over to layer feed, then integrate them. Even then, both flocks will be restricted for a few weeks to a large former garden, which is fenced, for a couple of weeks so the elders can teach the youngsters "the ropes." Only when we are confident the young'uns won't stray too far and will follow their elders back through the proper gates and into the coop at night will they be allowed free-range privileges.

I was very interested to hear about the crows! I did not know whether to be irritated by them helping themselves to the kitchen scraps and scratch we toss out for the chickens, though they seem to do no harm. They must be the reason we see no hawks around, though we know there are plenty of red-tails in the area. Here, crows!

 

[Doc7]

Mine free range with the flock at 5 weeks old. The other day they got themselves into the woods , about 10-15 yards deep, it was no use trying to herd them in. I knew there was no sense stressing about it, so I left for 2-3 hours and when I came back they were back in the run hanging out. My now year old pullets also used to do this when they first started free ranging but haven’t been in the woods since they were about 2-3 months old as far as I can tell. They probably figure out the yard is better for bugging by that time. I kind of like that the woods keep them safer from aerial predators but do worry about snakes, coons, bobcats and coyotes out there.

 

[webjundub]

Wow, thank you all for the kind responses. This is so much great information!
My new flock turned 2 weeks yesterday so each day I'm seeing noticeable changes and the questions just come flooding through my mind. I certainly take these little lives that are in my care seriously and you peeps have helped in so many ways.
So to answer a previous question. I have an open yard within a large wooded area here in central Virginia. I have the usual mix of foxes, raccoons, possums, snakes, coyotes in the shadows and my biggest concern is a (local for many years) family of Redtail hawks.
The yard is unfenced at this point so I would never allow them outside without full supervision. I'm still pondering the overhead threat...
It looks like I'll soon be a regular at the local hardware stores fencing/netting section.

Since I'm on the subject are hawks a threat to all age birds or just the little ones?

Thank you again, and peace to you all today.

Hi, I would say hawks are a threat at any size. We lost 6 over 2 years and didn't solve the mystery until an attack came during a time that I was outside doing Fall cleanup. We are in a somewhat wooded area and the bare branches of fall left them exposed . This time it got one of our older hens; it didn't carry her away, just pecked her head open ( sorry for the graphic detail...) everybody else hid under a storage shed and didn't come out till sun down!

 

[Chickengene]

I am an overprotective chicken daddy.
I just added a 3' x 8' Run to my brooder at about four weeks. Then just added another 4' x 10' about two weeks ago at ten weeks. Tuesday will be 12 weeks and today was there first full day freeranging virtually unsupervised.
The older ladies range far and wide while the youngsters stick to about a twenty foot radius of the cage. So not too much of the bullying I was afraid of.

 

[Chickengene]

Funniest part is one of the young pulletts, a BO, has decided to see how far she can bully the dog.
He is a pretty arrogant but laid back little guy, lol, but he ain't having it.

 

[ninjawesome]

I’d say that 3-4 weeks should be fine.

 

[Chickengene]

I’d say that 3-4 weeks should be fine.

I am pretty confident that, unless I built a speacial escape hatch to the brooder run, the evil twins would have killed all my chicks at 3 or 4 weeks.