6 week old chicks in a run/outside access and when to give them nesting area access

[mraymond]

We have 6 - 6 week old baby chicks, fully feathered it appears, they have been moved from the brooder to the coop 2 days ago. The coop is closed with a fully enclosed run attached. I would like to be able to let them out at least during the day and than in again at night. These girls are stubborn and still don't come when you bring them treats. I wanted to know, since the run is fully enclosed how long should I keep them locked in the coop before I give them access to the secure run? My first go round with chickens so still learning a lot. Also advice on when I open up the nesting area for them. These girls should start laying about 15-16 weeks of age. So do I wait until they start laying to give them access to the nesting area? I have it blocked now so they don't start sleeping in there and than not wanna use it for nesting. Should I not wait to give them access?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, sounds like you have two separate questions, unless I am not understanding. At six weeks, unless your weather is extremely cold during the day, you should certainly be able to give them the freedom of the run. They will probably go up into the coop at dusk by themselves and you can close them up. If you scatter scratch in the coop at that time, and nowhere else, they will learn to go in the coop to get it.

As for the nests, when they are about 15 weeks old, I would suggest putting nesting material in the nests along with a couple of golf balls or fake eggs and also providing a container with crushed oyster shell. If they need it, they will take it. They may start fluffing up the nests, and one fine day you will actually find an egg. As long as the roosts are higher than the nests and they are not overcrowded, they usually won't sleep in the nests. Good luck!

 

[Doc7]

Hi, sounds like you have two separate questions, unless I am not understanding. At six weeks, unless your weather is extremely cold during the day, you should certainly be able to give them the freedom of the run. They will probably go up into the coop at dusk by themselves and you can close them up. If you scatter scratch in the coop at that time, and nowhere else, they will learn to go in the coop to get it.

As for the nests, when they are about 15 weeks old, I would suggest putting nesting material in the nests along with a couple of golf balls or fake eggs and also providing a container with crushed oyster shell. If they need it, they will take it. They may start fluffing up the nests, and one fine day you will actually find an egg. As long as the roosts are higher than the nests and they are not overcrowded, they usually won't sleep in the nests. Good luck!

the above is great, golf balls in the nests is what I do and any mistakes are usually self correcting after a few days.

Definitely agree on the run access, what I do is force the issue. I am sitting out here right now with my 19 day old chicks doing this but your older chicks can follow the same concept.
Just check on them once an hour or so. If you find them in the same place twice in a row, move them. In other words if they’re in the coop, chuck them out the door Into the run. If they’re in the run, put them back in the coop. Once you’ve seen them doing this by themselves you should be good to go.

the difference is, for my younger chicks I’ll still close the door at night. Once they are 5 or so weeks old it will be opened 24-7 until next April’s new batch of chicks.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

the above is great, golf balls in the nests is what I do and any mistakes are usually self correcting after a few days.

Definitely agree on the run access, what I do is force the issue. I am sitting out here right now with my 19 day old chicks doing this but your older chicks can follow the same concept.
Just check on them once an hour or so. If you find them in the same place twice in a row, move them. In other words if they’re in the coop, chuck them out the door Into the run. If they’re in the run, put them back in the coop. Once you’ve seen them doing this by themselves you should be good to go.

the difference is, for my younger chicks I’ll still close the door at night. Once they are 5 or so weeks old it will be opened 24-7 until next April’s new batch of chicks.

Sounds good! I do have to lock my birds up at night after they go in, though, to protect from predators. My coop is an 8x10 walk-in building, so they go in and out without my help. A side funny about the golf balls: my EE have been laying for almost a year, and I still occasionally find an "oops" egg on the floor in random spots around the coop! I don't know if it's the same hen doing it or not, but I suspect it is!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know what your coop looks like or how big it is. Elevated or on the ground. Walk-in or reach in. Any of that. With only 6 chicks it kind of implies it may not be real big but it's still probably bigger than the brooder. You should be able to leave them in the coop section only for a while.

Some people leave the chicks in the coop section only for a week or more, hoping they will learn to go in there to sleep when it gets dark. Sometime it works, sometimes it doesn't. I have better luck with that when the coop is on the ground than if the coop is elevated. Either way there is nothing wrong with trying it, you might get lucky. If they don't go in on their own I go down after dark and they have settled down for the night and lock them in the coop section overnight. I've had some get the message after just one time, I've had some take three weeks of doing that every night before the last one caught on. Most take about a week. My broods are usually around 20 chicks, not your six. Hopefully yours will catch on quickly.

Personally I leave my nests open. As long as the roosts are higher than the nests you usually don't have a problem once they start to roost. If your nests are at coop floor level they might sleep in them until they start to roost at night. I'm assuming you don't have any adults in with them, that would change a lot of things.

I don't know of anything wrong with leaving the nests blocked initially, at least until they start to roost. But I'd want the nests open at least a week before they start to lay. One reason is that many pullets start looking for a good place to make a nest about a week before they start laying. Not all of them do this, some seem surprised by their first few eggs and may drop them anywhere. But a surprising number of pullets seem to have total control over the egg laying process from the start. By not having the nests open before they start laying you may be teaching them to lay somewhere other than the nests.

The other reason is that if there are problems I want to know about it so I can fix it before they start laying. Looking for a nesting site usually involves scratching. If you find your nest bedding and fake egg on the floor it may mean you need to raise the lip on your nest. Sometimes they do sleep in the nests. If they do there is a reason. I'd want time to fix whatever the problems is before I start getting poopy eggs.

There is no way to know for sure when your pullets will actually start laying. There are some signs that they might be close, such as combs and wattles turning bright red. But there are other things that could cause them to turn red, it's a sign but not a guarantee. Them scratching around in the nests is another sign that may be they are close. But still just a sign that maybe. The only real way to know is when you see your first egg, hopefully in a nest.