Week 3; Day 3

The chicks went outside for the first time yesterday. We were enjoying some lovely 80+ degree weather, so I figured it was a great day to let them have their first taste of outdoors. I put together the chick 'playpen', then had the kids help me transfer them to it. They all seemed pretty scared at first, huddling together in a corner, and not wanting anything to do with it. One of them even panicked when we tried to put her in, refusing to let go of my brother's hand! After a little while, they all got used to it, and seemed to enjoy themselves.

I was a little worried about the size of the holes in the mesh I wrapped around the pen. The holes are just big enough that I thought the ISA Browns might be able to squeeze through. After watching them for a little while, I decided that all the chicks are JUST big enough that they can't fit through. I do have mesh with much smaller holes, but I'm relieved that my first attempt worked, as the mesh I used is the perfect size for this project, no trimming required.

The cover for this pen is actually the 'spring' base for the crib mattress. The chicks aren't big enough to actually get out of the pen on their own, so that's not a concern. However, there are a number of large predatory birds that nest somewhere nearby. I'm not sure what kind of birds they are, but am fairly certain they're a breed of hawks; rumor has it that it's an endangered species [or perhaps just 'threatened']. While I harbor them no ill will, I have no desire to see our chicks carried off as some bird's lunch. We're trying to raise chicks here, not start a hawk buffet. So, even while we're outside, I want to make sure that the chicks are protected from predators.

While the chicks were enjoying the sunshine, I was busy doing some yard work. I ran across a small worm, and dropped it in the pen for them. The chicks went crazy: picking it up, running around peeping, then dropping it. After a few minutes, they actually did eat it, but they had a lot of fun with it first. I almost felt sorry for the poor worm.

We kept a close eye on the pen, but left them in it for 4 or 5 hours. Once it started cooling off a little outside (75 degrees or so), I decided it was time to bring them back in. After transferring them back inside (which they did NOT want, either!), it was still so warm inside that I unplugged their heat-lamp. With the lamp, it was over 95 degrees in their hutch; during the 3rd week, their climate is supposed to be kept at around 80. I left it off overnight, and plugged it back in this morning, and they seem to have been just fine with that.

On a slightly unrelated note: I've set the comments here to allow readers to comment anonymously. If you leave a comment without being signed in to a Google account, it will show up as anonymous. In such cases, if you'd like to actually leave a name, so that I know who's commenting, that would be nice, but not required. Again, thanks in advance for any feedback!

In closing, another remark from one of the children. We were having chicken for dinner yesterday, so I asked my son to get the whole chicken out of the space freezer. He did so, then carried it over to the chicks' hutch, held it up and said, "Hey, chickens! This is going to be YOU!"