Unsecure chicken perches

[ajayb]

Hi,

Hatched my first chick 2 weeks ago and bought in 3 friends of the same age to keep him/her company (thanks to advice on the forum).

They're thriving and hopping on top of the Brinsea Brooder & perching on a branch I've fitted across the indoor rabbit cage they're in - very cute.

At the moment they're in a coolish but well-lit west facing indoor room. I need advice, please, about when I should have them outdoors during the day (but indoors at night); when they could do without the brooder and move to an outdoor eglu at night; and whether they can eat anything other than chick crumbs until they move to growers' feed at 5-6 weeks?

All advice from seasoned hands at chick-raising welcome!

 

PS When can I tell the boys from the girls? I don't have auto-sexing breeds ...

[sjp]

I wait until they are off heat completly at about 6 - 8 weeks old depending on the weather.

I've got 8 oldside with a broody and I started giving them Garvo alpha chick last weekend as an afternoon snack as they are get free ranging time now and they already know that earth worms are a tasty snack that isn't for sharing as for telling boys from girls put some photos up we all like guess what we are games

[hennyjenny]

6 - 8 weeks for outside as already explained, some breeds feather up fast. Sexing will depend on the breeds you have some are easier to tell than others at an early age by the comb development, some are difficult to tell until they start to crow !

If you internet search you can often find pics of your breed of chicks and have a guess.

Incubated chicks, I used only chick crumb until 6 weeks and threw in some meal worm treats - cut up abit .

This year is my first with chicks with the broody. They are 2 weeks old and I am giving them chick crumb. They are eating anything and everything when free ranging including enormous worms that Mummy hen digs up. I think they will never swallow them but they do! So I am picking some garvo alfa chick mix up today because after seeing what they eat naturally chick crumb looks very boring but it does the job.

Glad you got company for it - it's nice to see them interacting.

[ajayb]

As ever, thanks for the useful advice! Two of mine (the one I hatched and one of the 'imports') are definitely Marans, and I think I have a boy and a girl, based on the difference in feather colour (one paler towards the tail end). The other two were chosen by one of my daughters based on their 'cuteness' factor and I suspect they are crossbreeds, so will probably have a long wait to know for sure!

The Garvo Alfamix Chick looks way more interesting than Chick Crumbs so I've ordered some today.