Moving Out on the Grass Three Days Later

I wasn't prepared for the chicks the day they came in.  I had my dates mixed up.  Normally, we'd have the brooder all set up and it would be a quick transition from the shipping box to the brooder.  Needless to say, that didn't happen.  Tricia had to pick them up, water each one, go to the barn, get the brooder, set it up, get out the heat lamp, pour feed for them, and unload them into the brooder.  The wife was not too happy with me!

One of the things we like to do is to get the birds out on grass as quickly as possible.  We find they are just more healthy and natural when they are out on the ground versus being inside the garage.  On the grass, in addition to eating feed, they forage for bugs and worms and eat clover and grass.  It's good for them.

Here is a glamour shot of one of the chicks.  Cute, but they don't stay cute for long.  This guy is about to transform.  You can see a white feather about to come out on his wing.  Pretty soon, he won't have any yellow fuzz.

Moving the birds out on grass is easier said than done.  We have a nice chicken tractor, but I had to get it and push it all the way to the house.  Then we needed to fit it out for the winter.  Chicks are susceptible to the cold and the rain.  We need to shield them from that, so we began affixing tarpaulins to the chicken tractor.

Once done, we have a tractor that is protected on the inside from cold wind and rain.  Those two weather events are chick killers, for sure.  We have one side not permanently attached so that on nice days we can roll up the tarp and let the chicks enjoy sunshine and clear skies.

We set up the brooder inside the chicken tractor and ran the extension cord and set up the heat lamps.  We moved the water and the feed inside.  Now, we are all ready to go.  Except, we need the birds!

We picked them up out of the garage and put them in a wagon for transport out to their new home.  I think they enjoyed the ride.

We put them down on the ground and they immediately began running around pecking at the grass - just what chickens are supposed to do.  As the birds grow, we'll extend the size of the brooder to give them more room.  In a couple weeks, we'll remove the brooder completely.

Enough on the chicks this week.  We'll have another progress report next week.