Chicks and Weed/Feed

[binwoods]

Hello All,

I’ve got 2-3 week old chicks who seem to be eager for some more stimulation. We were thinking of letting them roam safely in the backyard; however, we stupidly applied granular weed and feed last weekend.

How long should I wait before letting the chicks out? Is there an alternative to getting them more stimulation in the meantime?

 

[Perris]

hello @binwoods , welcome to BYC

It should say on the packet how long to keep pets off the grass for. If you've got a bit of grass in some corner that missed the treatment, that would be better.

Otherwise, or in any case, if you have a shrub border in which you can contain a small area for them, they'd love that, and it actually would suit them better. Chickens are descended from jungle fowl and like cover more than open grass. It provides cover from aerial predators, has plenty of dirt and detritus to scratch around in, and if you haven't used pesticides on it might contain some valuable live food for them.