3 weeks in, first post, and yet another question about moving chicks outdoors!

[ronott1]

I woud not get rid of the lamp, just the heat bulb. Replace it with a 40 watt or even a 25 if you can find them and it can be a great tool for getting them to go inside when it gets dark. They will naturally be drawn to the light as they are accustomed to it and it comforts them.
you can turn it off once they are inside and settled for the night.
You have beautiful chicks and have done a great job with there coop and box!

Added to the takeaway!

 

[BrahmaGirl2018]

Hey all, thanks for the great replies! Love the huddle box idea as well. I'm glad to know my instincts were about on track. The chicks still seem happy enough. I'm the slightest bit anxious leaving them outside for their first night, but I know they'll be fine, and after that, I won't worry again. Again, thanks for your help!

How did it go moving them in? We have 9 day old chicks, so we still a little while but live in NC as well so I am following all of the advice given here..lol

 

[Ste]

We raised our last 5 chicks outside without a heat lamp. They are about 6 weeks old now and doing great. I made a wire frame, put a heat pad over it and then used an old feed sack to hold it all together. I called it a "hen den". Put it in the dog kennel, covered it with straw and they loved it. They could go in and out of the hen den as they wanted. They have been integrated with the main flock for about 2 weeks now and I'm ready to pull the dog kennel out.

 

[lazy gardener]

I like your use of a feed sack. I assume it was a plastic "tarp style" bag???

 

[Ste]

I like your use of a feed sack. I assume it was a plastic "tarp style" bag???

Yes. Here is my set up - the heating pad isn’t hot enough to catch the feed sack on fire. Food and water is under the step stool so it keeps it cleaner.

 

[lazy gardener]

Good repurposing.

 

[cmom]

Hi all. This website has been crucial for me the past month as I prepared for and spent my first three weeks with my new flock of five hens. I received two Barred Rocks, two Rhode Island Reds, and one Welsummer in the mail and from a book or two and the posts on these forums, we've kept them alive and thriving for just over three weeks!

My question relates to moving chicks outside to brood in their future coop. I've read so many threads about this already, but the answers really seem to vary depending on location/climate and time of year, so I'd appreciate some thoughts with my specifics in mind from those of you who've done this before.

Basically, I decided to try moving my chicks (again, about 3 1/2 weeks old with feathers coming in all over) from their indoor brooder out into their coop today for a number of reasons, mainly an anxious cat, allergies, and the smell that was starting to build up in their room if I didn't change out the pine shavings constantly. We live in Chapel Hill, NC, where the summers are very warm and humid. To be exact, we're in a bit of a cold spell now, meaning nights are never below 70, and day temps hover around 80-85.

Our chicks have hung out in the coop outside during the day before and seemed fine with the temps, and I installed the heat lamp for use at night. I kind of built up cardboard walls in the closed up section of the coop to keep drafts out, and laid down plenty of pine shavings. They are far off the ground and well-protected from predators. My major concern is their response to rain - it shouldn't get wet in the coop, but the air can be pretty damp and humid here during rainy spells.

My plan is just careful monitoring, plenty of water on offer, and listening to your feedback. Thanks in advance, and I'm looking forward to getting more involved!

PS - I'll include some pics of the set up in case that helps.

Different people will do it different because most of out situations are different. What works well may or may not work as well for another. When I first put my chicks into the chick coop, for the first few nights I used a heat lamp but I put the lamp on one side of the coop high enough and far enough away from anything that could catch fire but would still afford warmth for the chicks that got under it and surprisingly when I would go out and check the chicks they were scattered all over the coop. I do have some roosts because the coop is sometimes a grow-out coop. I was also surprised to see the chicks up on the top roosts. I only had the lamp on at night but did leave a couple of windows open for ventilation. Now I leave it off but they are now 4 to 6 weeks old. They are pretty smart and when it rains they go into their coop. Good luck and have fun...

 

[cmom]

How did it go moving them in? We have 9 day old chicks, so we still a little while but live in NC as well so I am following all of the advice given here..lol

It's good that you have some time to prepare. I have used a watermelon box to brood the chicks until I could put them out into a coop. I did put plastic down in the bottom with shavings on top of the plastic. Then the box didn't get messed up.

 

[dashman1319]

Hey all, quick update! Moving the chicks outside went great. They're a month old today, and they've been outside in the coop (no heat lamp!) most of this week. Based on the feedback, I decided to give it a go with no lamp - night temps are about 70 and it's around 85 in the daytime right now. And I was always concerned about the lamp burning all the cardboard and shavings (I secured it in about six different places). The chicks are perfectly happy during the day (especially when I can let them into the run - it's been extremely wet here so unfortunately outside time has been pretty limited). At night, they do have the curious and charming habit of all bunching into one particular corner of the coop and more or less sleeping on top of each other. That would have worried me when they were just a few days old, but they're large enough now that I'm not concerned. I did make them a huddle box and leave it in the coop for a few days, but they didn't seem very interested so I took it out.

Thanks for all the help, and hopefully this has been useful to some other people too!