Help!

[Red Star]

Ok, I moved to a new place and I am just getting organized!

I "inherited" 8 layers and a rooster with the property.

I bought 15 chicks, which are now 4 weeks old.

I only have one coop, and it is large enough for all the chickens, when the little ones are grown.

I have actually had the peeps in my house, in a home-made box brooder, under a heat lamp.

This past week, it has been so WARM and HUMID outside that I have been dragging my box outside on our protected deck area during the day and dragging it back in at night. Is this ok? Is the natural breeze outside too "drafty?" They seem just fine and I want them to be able to enjoy the outdoors.

I have also been wondering about how I am going to mix them with my grown-up hens and rooster.

The grown-up hens are free ranging all day. Should I be letting them see each other yet? How do I do this? Some kind of temporary daytime cage ?

When it IS time to put them all together, will I have to keep ALL the chickens (the old-timers with the newbies) locked in the coop to establish that the coop is "home base?"

Please give me some input on this!

I am thinking about trying some kind of pen that i can put the newbies in during the day so that the big chickens can't get them but the little ones can spend a little time in the grass, but then I guess I'll have to retrain them to the coop when it is time to move in with the others?

Thanks for any advice you have for me!

 

[justusnak]

Is there a fenced in run with your coop? Maybe you can put the babies in the run, in another cmaller cage, so the bigger ones can see them, but not get to them.
As far as putting them outside during the day.....thats great. I bet they love it. At 4 weeks old, they should have lots of feathers, so the breeze wont hurt them, especially if its warm out. Mine went to the brooder in the coop at 5 weeks old, with a heat lamp, but that was in April. Everyone gets along just fine now.
Have fun in your new home.

 

[BeckyLa]

This is what I would do. It sounds like you have a really big coop so I would take wire and make a coop within the coop for the little ones. Give them their feed, water, and heat in their own space where everyone can see each other. I'd really like to do it in such a way as to give them their own space within the run outside but where they can get back into their own coop should a rain storm come up suddenly. Then, when they are about the same size as the other birds, just leave the door between them open and let them mingle. They'll come back to their own coop at night for a while, but once everyone is roosting together just remove the temporary wire. hth.