4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[VicW]

Sorry if the info is on here somewhere, I can't find it, so a link would be appreciated if I'm just being stoopid.

 

Anyway, I've been emailing a breeder about some hens and I asked if she had any cream legbars (I love the blue eggs!) She hasn't, but said she can get some and hatch them for me and I can have them at 4 weeks. Well, my question is, what do I do with 4 week old chicks? Are they old enough to go straight outside into their pen. Do they need extra care of any kind? What else do I need to consider? I'm thinking it might be easier to ask her to hold on to them for a while, in which case, what is a good age to pick them up?

 

Grateful for advice

[bronze]

4 Weeks is too young to go outside so you would need a brooder with a heatsource and they will need to be fed chickcrumb

[Egluntyne]

They would also have to be kept away from the older hens if you have any.

[VicW]

Thanks both. At what age can they go out into the run then? I don't have any other hens - these would be my first (as you can probably tell!)

cheers

[debbie26pet]

hi ive put mine in from 9-10 weeks,, but they have been in a run inside of them for 1-2 weeks, from 6 weeks i let mine outside if weather nice warm then heat at night, dwindling them of then outside, but as the weather getting bit nippy now maybe a bit longer under heat at night? others may tell u better than me

[Gallina]

My chicks went into the Eglu and run by themselves when they were six weeks old, and they even managed to perch on the bars. I am sure they would have been all right two weeks before that, although I would probably have taken the bars out if they had been that young.

 

The Cube is a different matter.

[CockADoodleDoo]

ive just recently hatched chicks on a farm they were hatched under a broody and there mother must have thought they would be alright when she left them at 5 weeks and they are 8 weeks now and growing really well. so i would say they will be ok outside as long as they have a nice werm hut to go into at night

[Gallina]

All the advice I could find said that chicks should be removed from their mother when she loses interest in them, which is around the age of 6 weeks, but can be earlier.

 

If you put them on their own before six weeks, I imagine they will be less self-sufficient and it will be harder work for you. Mine at six weeks were able to cope in the Eglu on their own, using the Grub and the old Glug, The first two nights they had to be put to bed, but after that they were fine.

 

The main thing is not to put them in with older hens.

[mrsallen08]

We had our chicks at 4-5 weeks. They were outside in the day and we kept them inside at night. If they have more mature feathers they will be okay although if they have a lot of fluff or if its particularly wet they may be a bit young still. Watch out for cats though if they are on their own in run. Ours seemed to gain the attention of every cat in a 3 mile radius when our were out. We had bigger girls which scared off the cats but I would still not leave them alone in run without supervision.

 

Good luck and don't worry about being a 'novice' - there are loads of people on here ready to help, many who are still in their first year of hen husbandry!