Chicks in enclosed coop at 2 weeks?

[Cristina2179]

Hello everyone! I just bought 4 chicks from TS and after keeping them in the house a few nights, I learned my 4 lb Yorkie was dangerous to have around them. I have a new coop outside that has completely closed up nesting area. I put the chicks out there with food, water and a brooder heating plate. The days have been around 85-88 degrees and at night I keep the heater on. The chicks stay in the box and only come out when I go out and hold them. Is this okay for them to be out there so early? They all have a decent amount of feathers already and seem warm when I check on them every couple hours. Thanks !!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Should be fine outdoors however lack of ventilation is the main problem I see with that coop, especially with the doors shut. Although chicks need access to a draft free place for brooding outdoors, they still need ventilation to let fresh air in and move ammonia out. It may actually be a lot warmer inside the coop due to lack of ample ventilation, so checking on temperatures inside the coop would be ideal.

Best place to add open ventilation in that unit would be the inside wall facing into the mini run. You could cut out a few of the boards at the top and replace it with hardware cloth.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.

What your chicks need are age appropriate food, clean water, protection from predators, and protection from the environment. They don't care if that is in your house or outside.
Protection from the environment means they need to be dry. You do not want a cold wind hitting them. They need fresh air to breathe. And they need a sport warm enough in the coldest conditions and a spot cool enough in the warmest conditions. If they are in your climate controlled house these are pretty easy to manage. If they are outside it can be a little more challenging, usually because of the temperature swings.

Looks like you are set up really well for most of that. The heat plate gives them the warm spot they might need at night. I don't know where you are located so I'm not sure how hot it gets during the day. Too much heat would be my worry. Since warm air rises cutting a hole in that top wall under the roof to let hot air out could be a good thing. It also gives hem fresh air to breathe.

For what it is worth, this is my brooder set up in the coop just to show that some of us do brood outside. My chicks go in this straight from the incubator or post office.

 

[Cristina2179]

Should be fine outdoors however lack of ventilation is the main problem I see with that coop, especially with the doors shut. Although chicks need access to a draft free place for brooding outdoors, they still need ventilation to let fresh air in and move ammonia out. It may actually be a lot warmer inside the coop due to lack of ample ventilation, so checking on temperatures inside the coop would be ideal.

Best place to add open ventilation in that unit would be the inside wall facing into the mini run. You could cut out a few of the boards at the top and replace it with hardware cloth.

Thank you for your help! I went home and opened it up a little bit while keeping it safe as well.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

Brooding outdoors can be very successful. I made an outdoor brooder this spring and my chicks used all the available space, returning to their warm spot when they needed to.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/introducing-the-ideal-dozen.1469451/

As others have said, adequate ventilation is necessary and the problem in the summer is more likely to be keeping them from getting too hot than keeping them warm enough.