When can i let my chicks out?

[Pennae]

hello ive got 4 chicks all fully feathered prob about 1 month old and i was wondering when i can let them free range theyve got a young hen that hangs around them and kind of is there mummy and theyve got multiple other hens and guinea fowl that live with them and i was wondering can i let them out so they come back at night

please help

 

[DeepDishChix]

You could put them out in a cage until the big chickens get used to them. You can make the cage out of pvc pipes and chicken wire. Hope this helps!

 

[Julia62]

At 4 weeks old, they are still much smaller than full grown hens. I used a dog play pen to keep mine corralled in until they were 8 weeks old. That way the big girls could see and interact with them, but not peck at them.

When I did "set them free" they got chased a bit, but overall it was a pretty smooth transition. Now they are 12.5 weeks old! Time goes so fast.

 

[Pennae]

well my big chooks are used to them they still chase them a bit they are used to them so i should wait another 4 weeks

 

[Julia62]

well my big chooks are used to them they still chase them a bit they are used to them so i should wait another 4 weeks

I would judge it by size difference. 4 weeks are still fairly small. I would wait.

 

[azygous]

If your adult chickens are cool with the chicks, meaning they are accepting and do not go after the chicks and chase and bully them, yes, the chicks are ready to begin to free-range. But you can't just let them out and expect for them to know what to do.

My chicks are a few days shy of five weeks and they have begun to free-range with the older girls. They have been fully integrated with them for a couple weeks now, and the chicks have been testing their courage and began to venture out of the run about a week ago. At first, your chicks will be very conservative about venturing too far from the safety of the run. But each day, they will go a bit farther. I just left the door open to the run and let the chicks decide when they were ready to begin exploring.

You really need to keep watch over them at first because chicks have to learn the lay of the land, so to speak, and they easily get lost. The first time mine explored the world outside the run, they got "lost" behind the door to the run which gets propped open. Chickens' brains are only wired for going in a straight line between point A and point B. They can't deal with veering around an obstacle. Today, my adventurers got "lost" in the rear run, which is separate from theirs. Minor panic ensued while I helped them find their way out and back to what was familiar.

So, yes, they can begin now to free-range, but plan on giving them plenty of help until they learn their way out and back in again.

 

[elisabeth44]

Mine were raised by a broody hen and we let them out at about a week or 2, but they were in a small pen with there mother so the big chickens could get used to them. I would start with a wire pen and then slowly move up to free range, like letting them out for short periods of time with you waching them