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

[i_want_the_good_life]

I'm picking the new members of the family up in two sleeps time!!! CAn anyone help me and give a definitive answer as to how long they should be shut in eglu and run beofr i can let them run free! They have come from the same breeder and have lived together with dozens others for the past 18 weeks. Somewhere i think i've read 2 days. Somewhere else i read 5 days.

 

Many thanks,

 

Adam

 

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I think 5 days is the usual advice. I certainly did that but I know others haven't managed to last that long .

[Kirstine]

I suppose it depends how far they could range and how much you can supervise them.

With our first lot we were told a fortnight but DH who is a complete softy let them out after 2 or 3 days and didn't keep an eye on them. We found them across the road heading for 'home'! So we kept them in for at least a week after that. If you have an enclosed garden you could play it by ear - but I would still wait until you were confident that they knew you and would come to you for corn, otherwise herding them back into the run can be an awful lot of fun

 

Kirstine

[tania]

we kept ours in for 5 days and then could wait no longer. They stayed close for the first few times and soon got the taste of freedom. Now they wander everywhere in search of goodies.

[Omletina Kyckling]

Same advice as the others here, I've always waited about 5 days and they've been fine!

[sgregson]

Hi Adam

 

I think the general consensus is 5 days as you need to be sure that they know where their home is. Maybe a good indicator is when they start putting themselves to bed at night as they start to do this when they feel it's home.

 

We got our girls on Monday and they put themselves to bed last night but I'm going to wait until Sunday before letting them out for a little wander as I want to be sure that it'll be easy to get them back in their run - I'm currently trying to train them to sound of the jar that contains corn as they go nuts for it and I'm hoping that using the corn will help get them back into their run - I've got visions of me doing a Rocky Balboa trying to catch a chicken

 

Will let you know how I get on.

 

Sal