Mary Allen
Chicks can never get too much green fodder. When the weather is nice, they can go outside from the eighth day of life. A covered run is best for protection from enemies.
Light and fresh air are good for the growth and resistance of the young flock of chicks. Therefore, when the weather is nice, the animals should be allowed to go outside from the eighth day of their life, according to the book “Keeping Chickens” by Beate and Leopold Peitz. The best variant is a run coupled with the chick house. So the chicks can access the protective warmth at any time. If this access cannot be guaranteed, a mobile stable is needed as a retreat in the run. Food and water should also be available there. The mobile barn also offers shade on very hot days.
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Caution is also required in the event of sudden changes in the weather, be it when running out with a direct connection to the stable or with a free-standing run. The fluffy chicks don’t yet have protective feathers and don’t always find their way back to their safe home right away in the first few days. The outside temperatures should not deviate too much from the barn temperatures. In the first few weeks, owners should therefore only let their animals outside for a short time. With increasing age, however, the discharge time can be steadily increased.
With full feathering, the chicks are well protected and they only need a source of warmth in the barn on cold nights. This can be continuously reduced depending on the season and temperatures. In principle, however, it is better to heat up again instead of letting the animals freeze. In order to avoid colds and deaths from wet and cold weather, keepers have to bring their animals into the barn when the weather turns bad.
Protective Measures Against Enemies
The disease is also avoided if the chicks have a fresh run where no adult animal has previously been. This makes it impossible for diseases to be transmitted via leftover feces. It is not recommended to let them out together with the adults, as the latter could peck or kick the chicks.
A freshly cut lawn and a sandy area allow the chicks to jump and scratch around in the run. Be careful with the fence. The wire mesh that is used for adult hens is often not sufficient for the offspring. A wire mesh width of two to three centimeters prevents the young crowd from escaping. Because in the event of an outbreak, the little ones could get in the way of the neighbor’s cat or a dog. In a large run, which is also used by adult animals, it is sufficient if a tighter mesh is attached to the bottom 30 centimeters as escape protection.
Don’t underestimate the enemies that come from the air. Depending on the location, a hawk may drop by. A greater danger, however, is the insidious crows that are after the little chicks. It is therefore advisable to stretch a net over the spout for the first few weeks. The commercially available plastic nets, which are also used on fruit trees in autumn to protect the animals from being eaten by birds, are sufficient for this.
Green Fodder is a Replacement Outlet
“The chicks can’t get enough of the green fodder,” writes Theodor Sperl in “Chicken breeding for everyone”. Green fodder is indeed an indispensable part of poultry farming. You can overfeed chickens with all sorts of feeds, but not with greens. However, a run with short-cut grass is not enough for the dedicated poultry farmer. From the fourth day of life, the chick can be fed finely chopped nettles, dandelion, chives, or spinach, along with grated carrots or beetroot. The chicks also like to peck at chopped onions. Feeding lettuce is also possible, but it should not be too generous, as it could cause diarrhea in the chicks.
Anyone who cannot offer their chicks an outlet can still offer them a green area. A wooden box is simply filled with soil and sown with oats, wheat, or barley. As soon as the green stalks are about five centimeters high, the box is placed in the chick coop to graze on – the stalks are torn out and eaten along with the roots. When using several boxes, the plants of which were sown at different times, the chick house is always supplied with new supplies. And the positive side effect of green fodder feeding is beautifully yellow-colored legs in the corresponding breeds.