30 new chicks, QUESTION!

[Gvnam]

I am expecting 30 new chicks to hatch on the 7th. Can I move them outside immediately into their own separate run and coop or should I keep them inside for a few days?

I really wanted to hold them inside for a few days to strengthen up a little, BUT I can't find a bin/box/container/cage large enough. What did you do/use? How big of a container should I use for 30 chicks?

Also, if you live in Pennsylvania and want some more chickens, please feel free to ask!!!!!

 

[orumpoultry]

As long as the coop is draft free and they have a light for warmth, I don't see why not.

Last year during hatching season I had day olds - adults outside separated by age. - The younger chicks all had lights at night, but here in TX day time temps can reach over 100 before noon in the summer.

 

[Life is Good!]

I'm getting 25 chicks on Good Friday (this Friday). I've knocked together a 4' square bottom plywood base with 2'x4' plywood sides (so the sides are 2' tall). I took scrap lumber to run on the inside corners to provide some stability and something to screw into. This was all lumber I had lying around the barn. I put it up on a pallet (and screwed the base piece down into the pallet) to get it off the floor a bit.

I've lined it with a piece cardboard that came off a pallet last year and was clean. Then I'll place pine shavings over the cardboard (it's pretty slippery and I don't want straddle leg problems!). I've put the whole contraption on a tarp so I can move it side by side and it might stop the cold from coming up the concrete foundation in the barn. It's in my potting shed or tool storage area, so it's quiet and clean. But if anyone got out, they'd have a field day playing in the shovels and rakes and !

I've got an Ecoglow50 to use with these little ones. I'm pondering making the whole thing a bit smaller for a day or three - using cardboard to partition off part of it. I want to make sure they know where food and water are! It seems a bit big to me - but then again, 25 chicks are coming!

I've put window screening over the whole shebang - in an effort to keep them in. Actually, the roll of screening isn't wide enough to cover the whole thing, so there are two pieces duct taped to the outside of the box. I know they'll be able to fly out of it sooner or later, so this is just for the first 2-3weeks, until I can get them out into their tractor. That's all I really need at this time.

My next batch of babies is only a dozen coming mid May. That'll be a cakewalk if this all goes well!

 

[Gvnam]

Think a LARGE (3x3x2?) cardboard box would work?

 

[orumpoultry]

I don't see why it wouldn't as long as the chicks stay warm. Right now I have 5 guineas and 2 chicks in an old rabbit cage with a regular lamp on it. They seem happy enough.