I have twelve three week old pullets and live in zone 5/6. They are being maintained around 75 degrees. From what I've been told on-line is that they should be six/seven weeks old before I put them outside to stay. My neighbor, a local and longtime farmer says they can go outside now, as long as I place a source of heat (heat lamp) out there for them (they will be roosting in a very large doghouse till the coop is complete). I told him what I've learned and he told me this was nonsense and he's done this his whole life without a problem.

What is you opinion?

Next questions - He offered me one of his roosters cause he said it would keep the hawks away from my chicks. Do roosters really keep Hawks in check or is this some lore??

Thanks in advance,

-- Rudy (rbakker@wcrtc.net), March 25, 2002

Answers

I feel he is right about the chicks, as long as there is a heat source. I have seen nothing to make me think a rooster could/would defend against hawks.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), March 25, 2002.

I would think that a full grown rooster would hurt 3 week old chicks. He would peck them and bully them around more than likely. About the other...I have put my chicks outside as long as they are out of drafts and have a heat source. If it gets really cold at night still, I would wait a bit maybe. Just my opinion.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), March 25, 2002.

I live in zone 5 and we're getting some snow, I wouldn't let the chicks out yet!!! As for the rooster, I'd watch closely to make sure he'll get along with them. We have seen they do defend against hawks, one of our bantams was attacked and we just happened to just be sitting and watching the chickens peck. Well, our full size rooster and bantam rooster moved so fast, they were both all over this hawk and it was a bigger hawk. The hen was in shock for afew hours and amazingly no injuries. The roosters sound the warning and the chickens run when they see a big bird fly over. Best to ya....

-- Suzanne (weir@frontiernet.net), March 25, 2002.

I wouldn't say the chicks need a rooster at this stage. Maybe an option for later, when they're bigger. I've seen a rooster accidentally kill a young chick - just jumped off something he was roosting on, came down hard, and the chicken was underneath one foot. Crushed - only lived about a minute.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 25, 2002.

I wait until the chicks are fully feathered at four weeks to turn them loose without a heat source, but I live in zone 8. About the rooster, Maybe later. Will you have a top on the coop? I prefer to cover the chicken pen to keeping a rooster unless I have a breed that I want to hatch eggs from.

-- Robin in East Texas (Southpawrobin1@aol.com), March 25, 2002.

Rudy, We put our chicks out into a small coop space when 2 weeks old. They have a lamp with a 100 watt bulb and seem to be doing fine.

I would not put the chicks with a roost yet. Maybe when they reach 2 months of age.

As far as a rooster protecting from hawks...my son has seen our barred rock rooster, one year old, chase a hawk away from his hens. This same hawk has been seen perched on our fence about 20 feet from my son. I would keep the chicks inside the coop for a while yet and then let them out into a narrow sort of run that would be difficult for a bird of prey to swoop into. Maybe even put a tarp or wire across the top of the run.

One day, my children and I watched a crow take a live baby robin off the ground and carry it off all the while being harrassed by the parent robins. The same could be done with a chick.

-- Lav, Maryland (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

Not really an answer, still perhaps relevant, as this is something you might ask your neighbor about.

I’d like to read his response to these observations made by: U.C.Davis, scientists found that chickens responded fearfully to videotaped and computer-generated images of predators: scenes of circling hawks or approaching bird-slaughtering raccoons. But they did not respond indiscriminately.

They have distinct calls for each predator type -- a long, abrupt whistle for aerial predators and a prolonged clucking for the kind that sneak up out of the grass. And they behave differently in other ways too. With a hawk, a chicken engages in what Marler calls "cryptic" behavior -- hunkering down and trying to hide, even as it signals danger. With a raccoon, the bird tends to move out into open space, making a lot of noise and commotion, as if to warn the approaching animal that it has been spotted and dinner will be hard to catch.

Further, if there are no chickens nearby, the alarmed bird doesn't call at all. It may still crouch or flee to cover, but silently and, clearly, self-protectively. "If you put a hen nearby, it gives the call," Marler says. "Take the hen away, and the bird still hides and sleeks its feathers (trying to make itself smaller), but it stops calling, and they won't talk if there's no one to listen."

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), March 25, 2002.

We keep our chicks inside until they are fully feathered. We invest so much time in them and too many things can go wrong when they are outside (power goes out, cord gets unplugged, the bulb dies). It is too easy to miss these things when they are outside.

Personally I would not get the rooster even if it was free. Roosters can and will defend their hens, but they don't necessarily feel paternal about chicks and could indeed harm them.

I would also worry about exposing the chicks to any diseases the adult rooster might carry. Young chicks haven't built up their immune system and can't fight off the "bugs".

-- Margarete (forpippin@earthlink.net), March 25, 2002.

I agree with your neighbor about putting them outside now. As long as it's a draft free encloser and free from entruders and other poultry and you have a heat lamp for them. The rooster idea is not so good. Like others said he will most likley peck them to death. Rooster wouldn't be able to protect himseld from hawks.

-- Char (charpoultry@aol.com), March 25, 2002.

I don't have heat/light for the birds out there, so only chicks hatched by the hens are outside.

I keep hatchery chicks in my house until they're fully feathered ~ about 2 months old. Many folks keep them outside in a draft free building with a heat lamp until they're fully feathered.

Roosters can be carried off by hawks, owls, coyotes and other predators just as easily as the hens. There's a lot of crows where I live and they keep the hawks away. It's a territorial thing.

My opinion is that I wouldn't depend on the roosters to protect the hens from predators. I have a bunch of roosters and altho they do push the hens back to the pens when they perceive danger, they certainly couldn't compete with a determined predator. This is why folks have livestock guardian dogs and donkeys.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), March 26, 2002.

Thanks all for your responses. I think we'll keep them inside a bit longer and shy away from the rooster. You've confirmed they'll protect from hawks, but we have a young grandchild around. We don't want to see her attacked for accidently getting to close to the hens.

-- Rudy (rbakker@wcrtc.net), March 31, 2002.