Is this baby enclosure safe??

[RussellOR]

Hi chicken tenders, it's going to be a warm sunny 80 degree day here today and my chickies are 2.5 weeks old. I'm eager for their first excursion outside but I'm not confident that bringing them out with no enclosure is safe, and I'm also not sure if this large baby gate is safe for them. I have a paranoid vision of them getting their heads stuck and breaking their little necks if my 5 year old startles them so is that overly paranoid or is that actually a reasonable concern?? Pic of enclosure and the cuties I'm concerned about

 

[azygous]

You might wish to run a small mesh strip around the lower portion so little heads can't poke through and get snapped at by dogs, cats or other chickens if you have these. Also, the open pen won't protect from hawks, owls or crows swooping in for a quick snack. Even if you are standing right there, a hawk will feel no fear in dropping in to snatch a baby chick. Hawks are not afraid of us helpless humans, it's been my experience on numerous occasions.

 

[neo71665]

I'd cover it with hardware cloth to keep their heads inside

 

[TOR]

My opinion I do not see why it would not work. I have wire hoops or guards which I use for new trees planted and they are made of chicken wire 5 ft tall.. I used one of the them with my 2 week chicks awhile back.
The concern of mine was lack of grit because they will be picking the fresh grass. I have read on here (BYC) store bought chick feed has some small grit in it. I am not sure how much grit or any in store bought feed. In the long run I had no problems.
I would only leave them outside for a hour or 2 because the temps were in the 60s, nice weather for spring weather here but chilly for leaving chicks out all day.
As mentioned above if left out all day any predators around = possible problem.
Also if I or my daughter was around them I would just let them out in the front yard and let them go. They will not go far unless something chases them. My large chickens were curious , but had no problems. When just let loose they were supervised.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Cardboard or even bird netting stretched taut and ringing the bottom foot or so inside the playpen should do the trick. Always some small risk of chicks finding a way to harm or kill themselves, so you just want to mitigate that as much as reasonably possible.