when to put chicks in the coop

[MambaJack]

Finished most of the coop today (not the run yet),

Is a week old too early to move my baby chicks from a box in my basement to the coop.
It can limit the area the will stay in to roughly half of what the total coop footprint will be.
I also plan to move the heat lamp out there with them.

Outdoor temp is supposed to be in the 60s here tonight.

I don't want to risk hurting them, but the heatlamp in my basement makes me a little nervous also.

Any thoughts would be appreciated
thanks

 

[Blooie]

I brood mine outside from the start. They thrive on some cooling, rather than having a hothouse environment, so if you can provide them a space well away from the heat lamp to frolic and play, they'll be so much the better. Here in Northern Wyoming our temps are getting up into the 60s during the day and still in the 40s at night, but my Littles are fine with that - I've brooded with temps in the teens and twenties with a snowstorm or two tossed in just to keep things interesting. I don't use heat lamps...those things scare the pee-wadding outta me, and they heat everything - the air, the walls, the floor, the bedding, the water, the food - when all that's really necessary is a spot for chicks to go warm up, just like they would under a broody hen! So I form a "cave" out of scrap fencing, put a heating pad over it, then a towel and layers of straw. They love it!

I'm assuming by now you've put them out and they are doing well. I wish I'd seen your question when you first posted it so I could be more helpful.

 

[MambaJack]

I ended up putting them out that day. Have continued to use the heatlamp most nights. they are doing great.

 

[PoesAccomplice]

I hope my answer helps you guys. It depends where you live. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and it burning hot here now. They can technically be transitioned out to the coop at week two since it is so warm here. If it is cooler where you live, let them outside for maybe an hour a day to peck and run around, them confine them to the coop the rest of the day. Put a heat lamp in there for the cold temps though. No drafts can be experienced by them, or they could die. Just let them out a bit each day, but keep them in that coop with a heating lamp. Hope this helps.

P.S. Your coop has to be closed off. If not, predators will kill the chicks.

 

[RonC]

JabbaDaHutt is correct. It depends on where you live. Mine are in the coop/run at almost 5 weeks old. They have been in a brooder on my back porch for two weeks with their heat lamp at one end. It is covered in hardware cloth so most of it is ambient temperature. Most days it's 85-90 degrees and mid sixties at night. As long as they are safe from predators and have a place like under a heat lamp to warm up they will do fine. Their whole brooder area does not have to be warm, just enough of a spot for them all to warm up. I realize this is an old post but it might help someone else.

 

[AuntNomi]

I always put our chicks straight out in the brooder that is located in one of our coops. It is big and predator safe, and has a heating pad if needed they can get to. This is of course chicks we hatch in the incubator. Our chicks hatched from mama hens, I never mess with, I just let the mama do her thing. It has worked so well and no mess inside to deal with everyday.

 

[RonC]

I saw someone on BYC saying pullets get less skittish when they grow up, is that your experience? My girls are a little less tame since moving outside. They'll eat from my hand but don't want to be pet or jump on me anymore.

This is my second flock and they seem to go through stages. As my first ones matured they became more friendly. As small chicks they were pretty friendly and loved to sit in my lap. As teenagers they acted as such and were more independent. Once they reached laying age it was a night and day difference how friendly they got. Each has their own personality and from what I have heard breeds differ too. My first were Production Reds so most of them were very friendly when mature. One was a little shy but not too much so. This flock are different breeds and definitely act differently. We'll see when they mature how they act. I picked them because of their friendliness but had to have the Americana and she is living up to their reputation.

 

[AllynTal]

I put the girls in their coop today and they are loving the extra room! I closed them in, put down some paper towels over the sand in places (under their food/water/heat lamp area), and ordered the heating blanket that was linked earlier in the the thread. Tomorrow I'll build them a hardware cloth "cave", and cover it with a towel until the heating blanket arrives. I really love this idea; much better than the heat lamp, and seems safer, too.

When you make the cave, keep in mind that they get warm by pressing their backs against the warm ceiling. It works best if the heating pad is inside the cave as the cave's ceiling (not on top) and the ceiling has to be low enough that they can reach it to press their backs against it. However you construct the cave, make it adjustable as you'll probably want to raise the ceiling as they get bigger.

Calling it a cave can be a loose description. I don't make mine cave-shaped. I have a straight ceiling that slopes from front to back. (I lashed the pad to the underside of a hunk of wire shelving and covered it with a pillowcase. The ceiling is soft so they can really press up into it.) The chick can find its own perfect spot, either close to the back where the ceiling is low and it can hunker down and still press its back to the pad -- or closer to the front where the ceiling is higher where it might want to stand up and get warm.






When you first move them to the cave, take each one and hold it against the cave ceiling for a moment so it feels the warmth there and then put it down. Once the chicks identify where the warmth is, where the food is and where the water is, they're all set to go about doing their very important chick activities. The chick will go to the warmth when it needs to, so don't be concerned if the chicks are out and about and don't seem to want to spend time in the cave. You'll need to evaluate your setup if the chicks are outside the cave and huddling together because that means they're cold and aren't getting warm inside the cave.

Do get rid of that the medieval torture device (most people call it the brooder lamp).

 

[Blooie]

Re rats and mice in the coop and/or run. Removing food at night and using rodent proof feeders is a start, but I think what's been forgotten is that every grain of chicken food does not either remain in the feeder or in the chickens. Chickens scatter it. They drop it. They bill some out. They don't always find every scrap of food or scratch tossed in. It gets lost in the litter. And those tiny missed bits are all it takes to feed a hungry mouse - they don't need a feeder full....

The most important thing is to try to keep them out in the first place, and that's easier said than done! They are ingenious, survival-driven little critters who will find and exploit every teeny little entry point they find. We use 1/4 inch hardware cloth around the perimeter of our entire setup - it runs 2 feet up the sides and almost 2 feet outwards at the bottom. We chose that because I'd read that a mouse can get through a space 1/2 wide so I wanted something finer. It's secured with screws and washers, wire, and landscape fabric staples (in the ground) and we even put a rubber gasket at the bottom of the people doors to seal any gaps. I thought we'd done what we could.

Last night I went out because I left the water running on the garden. I shined the flashlight on the run as I was on my way out there just in time to see a mouse use the 1/4 inch hardware cloth like a ladder, scurrying up the wall and then dropping down into the run. AAACKKKK!! This morning Ken and went out and bought 8 of those black covered traps. The lady at the hardware store looked a little heebied-out at the thought of what our house must be like so I said, "They're for the chicken coop." She kind of laughed and said, "Good luck. I never did get rid of them completely in mine." Oh, boy. <sigh> But we'll set the traps tonight and put a few inside and the rest around the perimeter and hope for the best. I don't want to use poison because if a chicken finds a poisoned dead mouse she may well think she has a new treat and eat from it. No thanks! Wish us luck!

 

[Choco Maran]

How cool is it in the your house? They should be fine remember they had to be at 99 for the first in the brooder. Put them out in the brooder and and watch them to see how they are doing. We have been in the lower 90 here and I have place three sets of chicks in their coops during the weekend and everyone is doing just fine. They are from 12 weeks to just seven weeks. Make sure they have somewhere to get out of the direct sun and water handy and they will be fine.