silkie bantam question

[mastiffs07]

I have the opportunity to get a few silkie bantams this week. I live in the northeast and they are a few weeks old. I wasn't planning chickens until the spring so I don't have a coop yet. Obviously they cant go outside yet because they are only a few weeks old. Do you think I can keep them inside or on my enclosed porch during the winter but take them outside for free ranging? Or this just a bad idea?

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

Just warning you, any chickens above a couple weeks old make an awful mess and smell if they are inside. So unless you have a basement, unused bathroom, maybe you can try to keep them on your porch so long as it isn't drafty and you have a way of using a lamp to keep them at whatever temperature is required for their age. I'd be a little concerned of raccoons tearing the screen to get at your chickens, though. If you can deal with the smell and mess, why not? Hopefully you'll get a coop before they are fully feathered so you can move them outside asap. Or you could consider using chicken diapers for a little? If you aren't home during the day, though, that might not be practical. And maybe taking them outside for a little bit if it isn't too cold would be nice, I'm not sure how young these are, so I'd say that depends. If they are a few weeks old, maybe for a little, but if they are still fuzzy, I wouldn't.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Fair warning: I have read a few posts on here that even mention the possibility of keeping a chicken inside and the radicals have pounced on every one of them in not so nice manners so be prepared to be called crazy for even thinking it!! Now with that said, I believe it depends on what kind of set up you have for them, how well you maintain them, how many you have. I have one 10 week old in the house and 12 3 weeks old. I also have a seperate room upstairs for them and large cages to seperate them into as they grow. (They get seperated next week into three other inside "pens" as they are growing fast.) I hadn't planned on wanting to keep chicks, so I hadn't needed a coop, now I do. We will be renovating a 9x4 1/2 ft shed into a coop for the ones we are keeping (all but oneof the boys goes :-( ) and as we know for sure which are boys we will be either moving them to my sister's who has been raising them for years, or finding alternate homes for them, so they will not all be here the whole time. The girl's will remain with us for the winter as I too live up north where we experience wind chills 20-40 below periodically.
I also spend a significant amount of time to keep them maintained as well as using a coop ordor neutralizer in the cages.
I planted and grow "chicken salad mix" (from love my chicken) in a big container for them to get their 'grass'.
Now, I can honestly say, (with the exception of my first born) I am looking foreward to being able to shoo them to the coop, cause it is A LOT of extra work. I'm sure they will be much happier (at least the younger ones) when they have all the roaming room and fly space they want.
So while I don't think it's the absolute best decision for long term or permanent living unless you love a lot of extra work, I would not let the negative remarks of other's dissuade you if it is something you are willing to take on. Just remember too that if you have any roos, at some point they will crow.
Good luck in whatever decision you make.

 

[mastiffs07]

I wasnt planning on keeping them inside long term. Just for the winter as they are only a few weeks old. I decided not to get them and wait for the spring.

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

Okay, that's probably the easiest

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I realize you've already passed on them, but...
I brood all of my Silkies outside in a large hutch. Right now there are 6, 7 week olds in there, but they go into that hutch ASAP no matter what the weather is like outside or how old they are. They have a 250 watt bulb in their lamp (now, I use a lower watt bulb if the temp is warmer) on one end of the brooder and their food and water on the other. The temp under their lamp, with our chilly temperatures, is around 70-75 degrees right now. The rest of the hutch is the same temp as outside. They do great in there. I never brood inside. The smell can be dealt with with some cleaning, but they're dusty no matter how much you clean and that's what I can't stand. So, I just don't do it.
Brooding them on your enclosed porch is a very practical idea. I would've gotten them and gone ahead with it without a second thought

 

[AmyLynn2374]

When you live up north and chilly temps are temps that hit 20 and 30 below with a wind chill factor, you consider dealing with those types of nuiences a lot quicker and without prejudice if you are going to hatch (or get chicks) in winter. This morning it is 15 degrees. Even if I had a brooder in a coop with a light, I'd be uncomfortable putting young chicks out there or even feathered ones that hadn't had a chance to acclamate to the cold. I realize that it is common for experienced breeders to have that kind of set up, even in the colder areas and do well, but when you come at it from a newbie standpoint, especially one that has gotten into chickens because "they are just so darn cute" and not as a way of life, the anxiety of having chicks in the cold and possibly loosing them can be extrememly stressfull, more so than trying to watch them hatch themselves. If dealing with the clean up and "dust" to have them in where a person has a peace of mind, then I say go for it. (As long as it's not posing a health problem/issue for anyone in the house.)
I think, even if I lived in a warm area I still would brood, at least the first 3 weeks inside if possible, simply because it's not that bad the first three weeks and I love the extra bonding and contact with them. I respect that a lot of people do not and are strictly adverse to having a chick in the house under any circumstances, and that's a personal choice/philosophy. People should do what is best for them. But I have found, as wonderful a community as BYC is, (I love it), people get down right nasty on these threads about others having chicks in the house. Not on this thread, but I have seen it and have become offended on the behalf of others because of the lack of tact that some users show when in disagreement. You can disagree and state your reasons why (as you have) without being rude but other's do not have that ability and verbally attack others that do.
I find it remarkably distastful to see someone called crazy or ignorant because they choose to do something out of the "norm". Especially when you do not try to look at different standpoints.