Chicken question.

[murray hill farm]

My baby chicks are 3 wks old today and I have been putting them out during the day for the past week...which they love. They were out today when a quick hard rain happened. I couldnt get to them and bring them in without getting them even more wet. When I went out with umbrella in the middle of it, they were all huddled in their little house..dry and waiting it out..ha! I am thinking of leaving them out tonight to see how it goes since they do seem much happier out where they can run about, etc. I know they are pretty young but I do live in southern georgia and the temps now are in the 90s during the day and in the mid 70s at night. There are preditors here, racoons, armidillos, unkept dogs who are always looking for food everywhere. The house and run are well protected and the whole set up is also fenced area in addition. Snakes could get in, but thats about it. But..........I am a little scared...mainly because they are so young..(there are 10 of them)..........Sooooooooooooooo, any advice??

[Nay]

1. Personally, I wouldn't leave them out at night. Snakes LOVE little

chicks. And you'd be surprised at how inventive the other predators can be when they're looking at free food. Just my opinion.

[Warpy]

2. Prudent people keep the henhouse shut at night

and the chickens in the henhouse. Some predators are more active at night, and I can well imagine there are feral cats in the neighborhood who wouldn't be a huge problem for full grown hens but who might be a big problem to half grown chicks. Your fence is unlikely to keep them out.

It's probably a good idea to keep them safely closed up at night. My own limited experience says chickens don't like being out and unprotected at night, so they'll probably be in there, anyway. You just want to keep the coop closed and deny access to predators.

[LWolf]

3. Leave it shut at night.

Let them out during the day.

Is there a wire "roof" over the part they are "out" in? If not, they are also vulnerable to hawks and owls.

Mine free range all over the place, but still show up to roost in the coop at night. I don't lock them in, but I know they are in roosting.

I have lost chicks when a broody hen hatches them out and then free-ranges.

[murray hill farm]

4. yes the roof is closed in from the run.

The whole thing is a lean to design....including the house which is at one end...the rest is all heavy chicken wire runing along supports than "lean" from the ground to the wall...which is a wall connected to a long out building. Then the whole area around the house/run...which the chicks do not have access to ..is also fenced securely. This surround is not covered. It is not set up in a way to lock them into the house at night. Difficult to know what to do, but I need to make up my mind soon..hahaha!

[LWolf]

6. You don't need to "lock them in" permanently.

Just until they are a little older.

If your chicken wire keeps out larger predators, you'd just have to worry about snakes. Can rats burrow in? I have pack rats that will eat eggs; when I'm not at home to collect them right away I lose some. Do your chicks roost yet?

At 3 weeks you can provide them with a low roost, and begin raising it up as they get bigger. Getting them off the ground when they are sleeping is a help.

With no door, I don't see any way to keep snakes out.

[murray hill farm]

5. Thank you all for your replies.

I solved my problem with your help. I took out their brooder box, put it in the hen house, put the babies in the box and covered it with the screen and secured the whole thing with bungee cord. Now not even snakes can get to them. Actually only beings with opposable thumbs could get to them. Thanks again. Pat

[LWolf]

7. Great solution!

[murray hill farm]

8. morning follow up!

All made it through the night....and were peeping demands to be set free in their run this morning. I did go out several times in the night to check on them..hahaha! I am worse than a first time mother.

[LWolf]

9. I am the same with my new filly.

Not a chicken, and she's got a good mom to take care of her, but I'm out there as often as possible, just hanging out. That pays off; she's 3 weeks old and leading, picking up her feet, and following me around the pasture whether I put a halter on her or not.

The last bunch of chicks I raised were the same; I spent lots of time with them. While they were never "pets," they are relaxed around me. It's easier by far to let a broody hen raise them, but those chickens turn out to be quite a bit more "stand-offish."

[hippywife]

10. When ours were smaller

we let them range around only inside their pen, which is pretty big. We don't have wire over the top but I ran many lengths of thin rope and twine across from one side to another in odd patterns so as to confuse the winged predators' vision and not give them room to swoop in and out. Seems to work pretty well. They all went in their coop at night on their own (they were already nine weeks old when we got them) and my husband would go out and lock the door. Now that they're bigger, we keep them in a chicken tractor all day so they can forage for greens and bugs, yet be in an open airy place where they are still well protected. At night we roll the tractor up next to the pen, line up the gates in both and open them. They then are able to go back and forth from the pen to the tractor at will until they are ready for bed. We don't shut the door on the coop anymore, either.

The tractor is pretty entertaining. When it gets rolled to a new area, the chickens are ready to go! They jog along inside and then immediately drop their heads and begin foraging as soon as it stops. They look forward to the moves...a lot! LOL

My husband built a tractor for the ducks last weekend, too. So far we just have it lined up with their pen so they can get used to going back and forth between them. This weekend, we'll move it off from the pen so they can forage in new areas, too.

Babies will just need the extra vigilance and supervision until they are big enough to sense danger and take cover.

Glad you are enjoying your new babes! It's easy to be a worry wart where they are concerned. :hi: