Getting about 24- 25 chicks!!!

[Semper]

This is our brooder without the second floor. and the current 3 babies (lost 2:/) and Beebe.

 

[GitaBooks]

I think that your birds are ready to go out with the adult chickens. As for how to stop them from going back in, I'm not sure how the lay-out works, so I don't know. They really like their mommy/aunt/big-sister Beebe don't they.

 

[Semper]

Sorry they are sideways they werent when i took them!! we are still working on making it better so any suggetions would help to make it work better. the center is all open for them to roam and do whatever they want and where we feed treats in the coop when they are stuck in.

The corners the brooder and the nesting boxes and the roosts on top with sand below them and our storage under the other side! ( i wanted the brooder bigger but dad didint:/) plus my two roosters sam (4 months) and Rocky ( 9 months)


This is the side with the storage and the ramp is made for them to go to the roosts.

and im standing where the ramp is. the water and feeder and the doggy door they go out in. and another sand shelve thing. and a window on the wall i didnt post is just blank but with shelves that are 6 foot high and 7 foot high in the corner for treats, bread, and the stuff we arent using. plus a window.

 

[Semper]

with the chicks they should get chick feed, but is it okay for Beebe to eat this still? she hasnt layed an egg and we dont know if she will... her comb and stuff are pale still. Beebe is about 7 ish months born in end of october of 2014

 

[azygous]

My run is partitioned into several areas, one for the chicks to grow up in from day one until age three months, one for a crippled hen that everyone picks on, and the rest for the remainder of my 21 chickens. The blue boxy thing is my heating pad brooder that the chicks used for the first four weeks, then they moved into the coop located at the end of their pen.

In this pic, just left of the waterer is a wood square. That's one of the portals that I open up when the chicks are three weeks old so the chicks can explore the rest of the run and get back inside their pen without the adults following them in. There's one of those portals in every partition in the run so the chicks can't get trapped without an escape. They have access to the entire run after age three weeks, and at eight weeks, they still use their pen as a refuge from the adults. They have food in there so they always have plenty to eat without having to compete for it.

Your run could be modified by partitioning off a section for just the chicks. You'll need much more room than that brooder for two dozen chicks. It wouldn't be much better than the stock tanks after a couple weeks.

The advantage of raising the chicks right there in the run with the adults is that they are accepted into the flock immediately, since they grow up right alongside the adults. When it comes time for them to integrate with the adults, they are already members of the flock by proximity, and bullying will be minimal.

When I anticipated getting new chicks, I moved the previous batch, now grown, out of their coop and chick pen a few months before the chicks arrived so they wouldn't try to get back to what they have known as "home". You will need to be very careful when opening that brooder the older ones don't get in. Moving my youngest hens into the coop with the rest of the adult chickens required a bit of an adjustment, and I wanted that to be over with by the time the chicks came.

I encourage you and your dad to consider dismantling your brooder, using the space to create a grow-out pen. By using the heating pad system in a grow-pen, you really do not need a brooder. You could put up the partitions while the chicks are in the stock tank, and it wouldn't be too stressful on them to move them into their new pen when it's finished.

I promise your that you'll be really glad you made this change.

I told you it's a new-fangled approach to raising chicks. I, for one, will never go back to traditional brooders, especially those with a heat lamp. So far, everyone on BYC who has tried this system has vowed never to go back to the old way.

 

[Semper]

Azygous how big is your coop? we might be able to expand it where we keep the tubes and stuff but the brooder is mainly for Beebe for night for her safety.

 

[snow5164]

You could expand the brooder to include under the ramp ?? Take out the containers and you could double the size of your space for chicks , please use the heating pad cave method it works so well and there's no fire hazard!!!

 

[azygous]

Azygous how big is your coop? we might be able to expand it where we keep the tubes and stuff but the brooder is mainly for Beebe for night for her safety.

My run is around 260 square feet sandwiched in between two coops, one of which you can see in the one pic. Twelve hens live in the coop not pictured, while the four chicks share their coop with four adult hens. I have it partitioned down the middle to eliminate friction between the two age groups. I'm a big fan of partitions. The chickens enjoy the complexity, while I find it convenient to close off trouble makers on occasion.

I saw you had joined the discussion on the Mama eating pad thread. They can help you plan out your run over there, too.

 

[GitaBooks]

I like both your guys coops. Very creative.

 

[Semper]

well we don't raise chicks, so we had all the adults in there and a small spot/brooder for Beebe. then mom thought she needed friends the last batch of chicks and we decided we wanted about 30 total and got these babies a few more then we wanted but it was all or none kinda deal and probably wont be getting more any time soon after them... that's why the brooder is smaller.

I like both your guys coops. Very creative.

Thank you we spent many hours trying to figure out how to get the most out of it for our hens!

You could expand the brooder to include under the ramp ?? Take out the containers and you could double the size of your space for chicks , please use the heating pad cave method it works so well and there's no fire hazard!!!

we are trying to figure out a way to use heating pads. its smaller for Beebe and we didnt expect this many babies but they were the breed i wanted and it was all or none!