When the chickens get out it’s time for them to go out.

As I’m raising my chicks in the brooder box I’m asked the question “How do you know when they are ready to go outside”? The answer I’ve always heard is that when their feathers are in and they are big enough to not fit through the fence they are ready to go. Obviously if it’s warm outside they can go out earlier than if it’s cold.

For my situation it was even easier than that. As you can see I am using a screen and glass pain from an old screen door to cover the brooder. Well last night I realized that my chickens had figured out how to pop the screen off. When I came in to check on them I found the screen off and chicken droppings all over the floor. At first I thought that a cat had gotten in to the brooder and attacked them but then I realized that they were all cuddled up int he corner sound asleep. I then realized that they had popped the screen off, run around all over the room making a mess, gotten back in the brooder, and pretended to be a sleep when I came in to check on them. Nice. If they are that smart, they are smart enough to go out side.