17 baby chicks in a hoop coop at 4 weeks old

Alarry31

Chirping
Jan 13, 2022
69
90
78
Virginia
ok so i am getting seventeen baby chicks. I plan to house them in a hoop coop at 4-6 weeks old. I am getting them in may in Virginia so i do believe temps will be fine. the purpose behind this hoop coop is basically to House them next to my original flock to get them used to each other. IF I place roosts in the hoop coop and have it at basically 24 sq feet at the base and almost five feet in height will the chicks be ok in this setting until the are ready to be integrated to the flock. i plan to tarp a area for shade and with in this shaded area i plan to put the roosts for night time sleeping.
 
As long as your hoop coop is predator proof and your chicks are mostly feathered when you put them outside, that sounds like a good plan, since the general recommendation is 1 sq foot/chick for chicks 4-8 weeks old (source) and temps in June-July (assuming you are getting day-old chicks in May) will be plenty warm for mostly feathered chicks.

One thing I've found helpful for getting them to feather out sooner is to not keep the brooder too warm; I think the recommended brooder temps are a bit too warm for groups of 6+ chicks. Watching your chicks' behavior will tell you the proper brooder temp better than a thermometer :)

Best of luck with your new flock! Will it be your first time raising chicks?
 
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As long as your hoop coop is predator proof and your chicks are mostly feathered when you put them outside, that sounds like a good plan, since the general recommendation is 1 sq foot/chick for chicks 4-8 weeks old (source) and temps in June-July (assuming you are getting day-old chicks in May) will be plenty warm for mostly feathered chicks.

One thing I've found helpful for getting them to feather out sooner is to not keep the brooder too warm; I think the recommended brooder temps are a bit too warm for groups of 6+ chicks. Watching your chicks' behavior will tell you the proper brooder temp better than a thermometer :)

Best of luck with your new flock! Will it be your first time raising chicks?
thank you so much for your reply. we actually raised a flock of tractor supply that started as 10. Then we ended up with three RIR roosters and One meat chicken instead of a leghorn. And now we are down to 1 RIR rooster and 4 Leghorns. so this time having more knowldge than before. I ordered chics that are known for Broddyness since we want to extend our flock. And ordered all females. THey will be day old chicks arriving in may. So as long as I provide them shade and adaquate roost spacing in the hoop coop the should fine in the hoop coop till integrate them to the rest of the small flock.
 
thank you so much for your reply. we actually raised a flock of tractor supply that started as 10. Then we ended up with three RIR roosters and One meat chicken instead of a leghorn. And now we are down to 1 RIR rooster and 4 Leghorns. so this time having more knowldge than before. I ordered chics that are known for Broddyness since we want to extend our flock. And ordered all females. THey will be day old chicks arriving in may. So as long as I provide them shade and adaquate roost spacing in the hoop coop the should fine in the hoop coop till integrate them to the rest of the small flock.
Sounds great! What kind(s) of chicks did you order this time around? :)
 
Sounds great! What kind(s) of chicks did you order this time around? :)
i ordered 7 buff orpingtons and 7 buff cochins and one Turkin which i am supper excited about. and they sent me one free mystery chic. Which my fingers are crossed ends up being a better tempered rooster. cause my RIR rooster henry is a jerk.
 
Welcome to BYC. If you put your general location into your profile it will make it easy for people to give you targeted advice. With a state as varied as Virginia, including "coast", "Piedmont", or "mountains" would be useful.

I'm in central NC, in the Sandhills region, so if you're in the warmer parts of the Piedmont or the coast my experience with brooding a couple batches of chicks in an outdoor brooder this year would be relevant for you. Here are my threads:

Spring chicks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/24479134

Fall chicks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/25-from-welp.1494343/

My outdoor brooder: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/
 
For reference my first brooder was 3' x 5'. My new one is bigger. I kept 28 chicks, mostly female, in that brooder until they were 5 weeks old. Another time I kept 23 chicks, mostly male, in there until they were 5 weeks old. I think sex makes a difference, it did then. In both cases they were OK but it was getting really crowded. I would not have wanted to try to go another week. I don't think I could have.

You are talking about 17 mostly female chicks that are already 4 to 6 weeks old when they go into the equivalent of a 4' x 6' coop. I think they will be OK initially but they will outgrow that really fast. I'd think real hard about getting another panel and making that hoop coop bigger.

If we knew more about what your main coop and run looks like and your facilities in general we might be able to come up with other ideas. But to start out I'd want something bigger.
 

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