Reasons for Tossing Out Your Indoor Brooder and Start Raising Your Chicks Outdoors

I've raised chicks I bought at the feed store for 10+ years. They all ended up terrified of me as adults when I fed them in their pen. Now I know why. I will try to copy azygous' chick raising methods that work so well. I want my chicks to trust me and not run for their lives when I go to feed them.

Fully agree.

That was a wonderful article!

Fantastic. I raised a few batches of week old chicks in the house. The last batch I made a new brooder in the garage- hardware cloth sides. These chicks are just like yours and now also thriving in my barn grow up coop. I can't wait to read the heating pad thing because that's what I've been using! I wrap it in a plastic table cloth fresh for each batch, and tape it inside the roof of a shoe box. They love the warm cave. This really affirmed my gut instincts and I'll continue to raise bold, friendly, and healthy chicks in this manner.

This is wonderful!!! It totally backs up my intuition about the indoor brooders... I really hate that my lil chickies aren't exposed to anything but the brooder and our hands diving in. I tried different things to enrich my big chicks before they moved to the coop, which helped a ton, but this article is hands down the BEST way I can see to raise chicks without a mama hen!! I'm going to clean my coop and get them set up right now!!

I just love this article and have read it several times over the years. Thank you @azygous !

I’m raising my third set of chicks up in Portland, ME. First mail-order babies, so started under a lamp. By day 4 we were taking field trips out to the big girl yard, supervised and with a baby-sized run + heat plate.

By day 6 (today) they’re happily outside all day and sleeping inside at night.

In another few days, I think they’ll be outdoor chicks

Thank you!!

This article makes heapa buncha sense and I wish I could duplicate it. My babies are in my Ladie Lair; i.e., sewing studio room turned brooder inside a play pen for small animals. It has mesh on top and upper sides for them to see through. But through to what . . . junk in my sewing room. Ugghhh.

I need to figure out how to implement something of this article for them (and future) chicks. We are building their coop in stages so for now brooding in coop is not possible.


Due to the heat here we have put foil up on most of the windows including the one in their brooder room. Perhaps I should remove it and for much of the day have it open where they can see out. But they won't see people, simply grass and trees.


I dunno this sec; but I am going to come up with something to help them out.

Thanks so much for this beyond thoughtful information.

This is great Information! Thank you for taking the time to share your story! I would love to try this. I just got chicks from tractor supply, I didn’t get them from day 1, so I wonder if it would be ok to go ahead and start this method now? It’s mid summer here, I live in Pennsylvania. The heat wave just past and the temps are getting better with a high of 81 and a low of 66. Thank you again and hope to hear back.

Excellently informative essay! This is my plan with the eggs in the incubator. Way back in the day there were no brooders indoors. All things poultry were outside. If it got below 32, they were either put in the hay barn or in the "house" (cabin). There were no heating pads, feed and water bottles designed for chicks. Getting poultry raising back to its simpler roots! Thank you for sharing!!

Back to nature! Thank you for sharing! What do you think about trying this for a first set of chicks - no adults already in the coop?

This was an outstanding article, thanks for much for this information

Great information. Definitely something to think about the next time I get chicks.

This is great.
We have a batch of eggs in the incubator and hubby does not want them in the house.
I will do this from about a week old!!
Great article. Thanks for posting temperature!! That’s very helpful

Wonderful, will definitely do this If I raise more chicks!

Beautifully written article and great photos. Will definitely try to incorporate these methods when/if we get new chicks.

An excellent article with lots of thought provoking ideas. The pictures are very helpful, along with detailed explanations and descriptions. Thank you so much!

Good for you! I had the same revelation years ago after reading the same Blooie post about Mommy Hut! Such a game changer! I just now put out a post to see if people are still using 100* and sure enough alot are. I'm genuinely not sure what they are worried about, chicks will get cold? I'm way more worried about chicks over-heating. This method solves for that and so much more. It's so much more natural. Bravo!

Loved this article. It was very useful in acclimating my newbies to the weather before it got too cold. Though the do seem to be more aloof than the ones I raised inside.

Loved this!
My ducklings were brooded outdoors on the ground, they have no issues stomping over me or eating out of my hands. My "brooder" babies have always been more fearful.
Can't wait to do this again!