Will chicks fly out of the brooder?

[BerrytangleFarm]

I have 23 2.5-week-old chicks in a 2'-high brooder sitting on the garage floor. Normally I have hardware wire on the top of it, but a wasp decided to crawl inside, so me and my irrational fear threw the hardware wire out the garage door, slammed the door, and have no desire to chase the wasp out of it.

Can I leave the chicks overnight without the hardware wire on the top without them flying out?

 

[duckking]

Mine didn't start flying out of their brooder until about 4 weeks if I remember correctly.

 

[Momagain1]

haha at about 3 wksw mine were fluttering up to the top of the brooder and we had to put a top on it...

and yes; if you have a feeder in there or a roost too...they jump on that and then flutter over the edges of the brooder!!

 

[BerrytangleFarm]

Okay. Fear conquered. For now. Wire's back on top, but now I'm wondering how the heck (well, that's a watered down version, anyway) did that thing get in my garage and did it bring company?!

 

[duckking]

Quote:
You're right. Now I remember them hanging on to the top of the brooder for dear life before they started flying out.

 

[papschmitty]

Our brooder is outside on the deck. It has a roof that flips up for accessing the inside of the coop.

I go out there twice a day to clean out poop and freshen the food and water when needed. My girls are about 4-1/2 weeks old and have been trying to fly out for almost 2 weeks now. Several times they have flown out and perched on the top of the coop! The minute the roof opens, they can smell freedom and instantly start plotting their escape - you can see it in their eyes! I do my chicken chores before work when it's still dark and don't have a lot of time to catch escapees. I've taken to putting a piece of plexiglass over the section that I'm not directly on top of to keep them inside. They've all crashed into the plexiglass a couple times trying to fly out.

I can't wait until they can go outside. If only my hubby could get enough time to finish the coop...

I hope you're done with wasps for a while!