How long to leave chicks in a brooder

[Tim Carter]

Thinking about hatching some of my eggs. Was needing to know how big of a brooder for approx. 12 chicks? How long do they need to stay in the brooder before they can be put in a coop bye themselves?

 

[azygous]

Brooders aren't even necessary if your coop has no adult chickens, and even if it does, you can rig up a brooding section right in he coop, avoiding a brooder all together. I use the heating pad system instead of a heat lamp and it would be perfect for twelve chicks. See Blooie's thread on heating pad brooding here on this page.

My chicks are brooded in a safe pen right outside in my covered run, and they move into the coop with the adults at age five weeks.

 

[Lukedawg]

Well I have a brooder box lifted a up on stilts about 3' up so I don't have to lean and mine is about 2'x2' and the box walls are about 2' tall also and I have had 23 chicks in it for about 3 weeks and then had about 10 chicks in it and I also built a small outdoor cage with no bottom I can move around the yard so my adult ones can get familiar with them and still have a barrier as not to kill them and then back into the brooder box at night then I slowly let one or two hens around them outside with me watching until they take a liking to them then after a few days of that they go into the coop with the rest of them. So they are in the box for about a total of a month and a half or two. Heat lamp is above the box as it has a fence top so heat lamp stays out of the box but still heats.

 

[azygous]

Is that a typo - the part about the brooder being two feet by two feet? That's awfully small for even a hand full of chicks let alone two dozen. Do you ever have problems with over-heating and aggression?

 

[Lukedawg]

No I didn't but that was only for about 2 weeks maybe 3 at most when I had that many in there then moved them to the coop but the most I have had since then has been 10 and they are only in at night then every morning I open up a trap door that leads outside to a caged area In the hens run so they are outside all day then in the box at night and they sleep huddled usually so no issues.

 

[azygous]

Sounds workable!

 

[Mikejr05]

This is an interesting thread for me as well, I have 10 chicks coming in the end of February and have built the heating pad brooder. But my concern is (because this is my first time doing this) after about 2 or 3 weeks the chicks may not fit under the brooder. I can move them to my coop but do I need to set up a bigger heat pad? I do not have any other chickens so not sure if I would wake up to little chick sicles. Or will they have enough of a feather coat to keep themselves warm.

 

[azygous]

Don't worry about them fitting. It's true chicks double in size each week, but by the time they're three weeks old, they will be spending much less time under the heating pad, and some will prefer sleeping on top of the pad. Also, they won't all be under the pad at the same time during the day. By the time they reach four weeks, they will be spending very little time underneath. By the time they're five weeks old, they won't need the heating pad any longer.

 

[Blooie]

Don't worry about them fitting. It's true chicks double in size each week, but by the time they're three weeks old, they will be spending much less time under the heating pad, and some will prefer sleeping on top of the pad. Also, they won't all be under the pad at the same time during the day. By the time they reach four weeks, they will be spending very little time underneath. By the time they're five weeks old, they won't need the heating pad any longer.

x2 I had 15 chicks under mine and they did just great, even outside in the run! Your first inclination, if you are like most, is to keep shoving them under the heating pad when you see them out. Don't do that once they've been under there and understand that it's "Mama"....they know what they need and most of them just don't need that much heat after that first critical week or two. As long as you know they will go under when they need to - that they know where the heat is and how to get to it, they'll be fine. No need for bigger heating pads or a lot of fancy stuff....keeping it as simple as possible is best for you and for them. As @azygous said, they'll spend as much - if not more - time on top within two weeks as they do underneath.

 

[DurangoChickens]

Thinking about hatching some of my eggs. Was needing to know how big of a brooder for approx. 12 chicks? How long do they need to stay in the brooder before they can be put in a coop bye themselves?

I have 17 chicks that are 3 weeks old and I was wondering if you think that they would be ready to go out into the coop full time in the next week?? We have no other chickens in the coop and can easily run electric out to the coop for a heat lamp. Should we bring them out, I am getting really tired of their smell being in the house and dust getting everywhere.

Kiera