5 week olds in their new coop!

[bwknight877]

Thanks to all the good stuff everyone posts in the forum, I confidently put my 5-week olds out in their coop last night! The lows got only down to 65, and they were up and peepin around this morning. Happy to have more space than their cardboard box brooder in the house.

More pics in my Flickr photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwknight/

 

[memal]

Nice coop ! lucky chicks

 

[newchicksnducks]

They're going to love their roomy accomodations! It's great to see them grow in their brooder, but even greater to see them in their coop. One suggestion - You might want to place the 2x4 you have for a roost on it's side. It's better for their feet to lay flat on the board. If they want to "hang on", they'll scoot their toes over the edge. The flat side of the board will allow them to tuck their feet under as they sleep.

 

[bwknight877]

Quote:
The roost that is in there is only temporary for now, I just nailed it in place to give them a spot to jump up to until I can put in the full roost which will be much higher. The permanent version will have a flat-side-up 2x4 with poop board below it. The end of it is actually nailed in the nest box opening, again its only temporary.

Right now the girls have been in the coop for just two nights, and they've been sleeping in a pile on the floor of the coop.

In the coming weeks once I get the run finished and secure, I'll be putting the girls outside while I work inside the coop to build the nest boxes and roost.

I might also be putting up interior walls later this fall, as well as throwing some R-13 insulation batts in the walls that I have left over from insulating my well house.

 

[gryeyes]

I don't know why I find it so adorable to see the pile o' chickens sleeping in corners of coops, but I do.

Right now I have five adolescents in their own coop (shared run with the Big Chickens) and they all troop back to it at night like good kids. At 14 wks old, they still don't use the roost bars. They will occasionally nap during the day, "roosting" on the outside edges of their low coop, but at night they all pile into one nest box and sleep together there.

2 Welsummers, 1 BR, 1 RIR, and 1 bantam Cochin, all stuffed together in one nest box. I lift the lid for the nightly head count, and 5 heads pop up to say good night. I have to push the RIR's head back inside the box so I can close and lock the lid. There are TWO fairly large nest boxes in the same bin under the same lid, but they all jam into one.

I've noticed one or another is having to huddle next to the nest box inside the coop, as they're not all fitting in there as well as they used to.

Sure hope they start to use the roost bars before long.