How and when to integrate chicks?

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bglass

bglass

In the Brooder
Jul 31, 2015
14
0
24
Vilonia, Arkansas
Help! I'm not sure where to go, we jumped probably a bit too quick into the chicken world. We built a coop, got 8 mature laying hens, and 6 tiny chicks in one day about a month ago. The hens settled quickly and are sweet, happy, and very friendly. they have their coop and free range during the day. The chicks started in a small tub and we've moved the size of the tub up as they've grown. We designated our office as the brooding area. Now we are at the largest tub and they're feisty little things and can escape sometimes. We don't know what to do with the brooder or chicks, or how or when to integrate them into the coop. There's not a "separate area" in the coop, and they're getting too big for the brooder! (And certainly too big and loud for our office). They're just under a month old. They're fat and happy chicks (and I am quite proud I've kept all of them alive) but I don't know the breed. The hens are Bovan browns. The coop is a hoop coop 6x12 ish with 5 nesting boxes on the back wall, roosts on the left, food and water on the right, and door at the front.
 
bglass said:
Help! I'm not sure where to go, we jumped probably a bit too quick into the chicken world. We built a coop, got 8 mature laying hens, and 6 tiny chicks in one day about a month ago. The hens settled quickly and are sweet, happy, and very friendly. they have their coop and free range during the day. The chicks started in a small tub and we've moved the size of the tub up as they've grown. We designated our office as the brooding area. Now we are at the largest tub and they're feisty little things and can escape sometimes. We don't know what to do with the brooder or chicks, or how or when to integrate them into the coop. There's not a "separate area" in the coop, and they're getting too big for the brooder! (And certainly too big and loud for our office). They're just under a month old. They're fat and happy chicks (and I am quite proud I've kept all of them alive) but I don't know the breed. The hens are Bovan browns. The coop is a hoop coop 6x12 ish with 5 nesting boxes on the back wall, roosts on the left, food and water on the right, and door at the front.
Click to expand...
Can you extend the hoop coop? Add another one onto the existing one using the nesting wall as the back of the coop ( thus being the common wall between the 2 hoop coops? Chicken math says 4 sq. ft. per bird inside and 10 sq. ft. per bird outside. Since your inside is "outside" because of the hoop coop, then if you add the chicks into the current hoop coop you will basically only have about 5 sq. ft. per bird outside. Hum... If you made another hoop coop for the 6 chicks, that would solve all the problems. Something 6x10. Would that work for you?
Best,
Karen
 
You may wish to read further about this subject by typing "integrating chickens" in the search box - theres lots of info there.

All the best
CT
 

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