Cube MK1 run only to buy

[jamsal]

We have 3 week old cream legbar chicks and we want to know when it's OK to put them outside. They are already flying up over a metre and it is going to be quite difficult to contain them in the house for much longer! We have electricity supply and are expecting delivery of recycled plastic hen house in a few days. We are thinking of putting them in the hen house from next week, along with their heated plate.We are in Oxford, and the night time temperature is currently down to 8 degrees centigrade.

 

Does this seem too early? We also plan to let them out in the run during the day. Advice much appreciated as we are very new to this, but are already very fond of our chicks!

 

Thanks

 

Jamsal

[Shelleyloveshens]

Hello! We have 4 chicks at the moment that are 4 and 5 weeks old. Being new to this we were advised they should stay indoors with their little heater until 8 weeks and to give them a week without their heater before they went outside so they ate used to the general indoor temp ( ours are in an outside workshop). I'm in the north east and we could still get a frost so I won't be putting mine out yet. They are still looking a bit bald like in places so don't have any real protection from the cold yet. Ours are flying around too but they seem to young yet to brave the elements. Sorry it's no real help. It's just what we were advised from the breeder. Shelley

[Egluntyne]

Yes, they are too young even though the weather is mildish, they still need to be under a brooder, especially at night.

 

Have a dekko at the stickies at the top of the section for guidance.

[Redwing]

Its a bit early even with their heated pad

 

A shed or garage may be a better bet

[TAJ]

Sorry to disagree - my now 9 week olds went in an eglu outside with their electric hen from 4 weeks old. I was constantly checking them temperature wise and they were fully feathered by that stage - different breeds take longer to feather up, they should always have heat until at least 6-7 weeks. Plus the volume helps 3-4 chicks would not be so easy to get outside (with heat) so early.

 

Tracy

[WitchHazel]

It depends on how fast developing your chicks are, what the weather is like, and how many chicks you have.

 

We've been really lucky with the daytime temperature, so our chicks started to go outside for a short period of time each day from very young. We had a Go for them, and we put the Electric Hen in there so they could go in and keep warm if they needed to.

 

We gradually increased the length of time they were allowed out during the day, both starting earlier and finishing later, and we put them back in the shed brooder later afternoon. Again, the EH was always on in the Go in case they felt the need to keep warm. As time progressed, we made a netted area for them to range into, which included a flower bed to use as a dust bath.

 

By the time they were just under 4 weeks old, most of them were really well feathered, and we swapped from the Go to a Cube (with a special ladder made by DH) eith 3m run space. We put the EH in the Cube, and carried on as before. They had no problems going up and down the ladder.

 

After a couple of days of transferring them in to the shed at night, we decided to let them stay in the Cube overnight (with the EH still on).

 

There are 33 of our chicks though, so they generate a lot of heat and find it easy to keep themselves warm.

 

Even now, the EH is on all day, just in case. We will continue to leave it on during the day for another week probably, and then we'll turn it off during the middle of the day (weather permitting), gradually moving to it being on at night only.

 

We both work from home, so we've been able to keep a constant eye on them. Up until this week, we've also made sure that one of us is at home at all times when they are out, so we can take action if the weather changes. Their free range area (in addition to the cube area) is about 12 feet by 15 feet, and we wanted to be around so that if the weather changed at all we could make sure they were shut up in the Cube run, which is covered by a tarpaulin.

 

We;re now at the stage where we can both be out at the same time for short periods, and they are shut in the Cube run for that time. That'll only last for another week, then they will be too big to be shut in the run for any length of time.

 

When they are 6 weeks old they will be off heat and will be moved to our allotment where there is plenty of room for them and much more suitable housing.

 

If we hadn't had the unseasonably hot weather, they would not have been out so early.

[bostock422]

I raise 40 odd chicks at a time and rule of thumb they don't go outside before 6 weeks

[CatsCube]

Sorry can I just gate crash this thread to ask a related question, I have been strugling to find any information on how much space the chicks need. I know people have been keeping them in indoor rabbit cages and the like and I have a guinea pig cage they can go in, but as they get rather active and start trying out their wings, how much space do they need?