Aloha From Kauai!

[Jessgitalong]

Been raising chicken for several years now. Started out with 4 Rhode Island Reds (3 hens and a rooster) and a silky. Ricky the rooster was big and mean! After severing a tendon in my right finger he became Ricky the Roast! His son, RJ was nicer, but sadly passed after getting his head stuck in the wire fence during a sparring match with a jungle fowl on the other side of it. The RIR’s are huge, but domesticated roosters are still no match for super duty, compact jungle fowl! We have added a wild rescue and 2 production red hens to the mix, along with Ricky’s grandson, a half barred Plymouth Rock, who is grand, handsome, and well-mannered.

Just got done sealing up their space with a buffer space and bird netting to reduce outside contact for fear of avian flu.

We have hatched and raised a few hens via our silky brooder, but she’s getting over that life. Now we’re hatching our 1st brood from an incubator and I feel terribly broody myself! We are trying 2 jungle fowl hybrids in this batch and so far one of those has pipped! The rest are a combo of production reds, RIR’s and BPR’s.

Hard to get any sleep, I’m so excited!

Trying to figure out how long I have to keep the chicks in a brooder box before setting them loose on the coop. The coldest we get is 60 degrees. Expect to end up with 6-7 hens.

 

[BantyChooks]

Welcome! It sounds like you've had quite a few adventures (not all of them good - poor Ricky the Roast!) Best of luck with your flock and thanks for introducing yourself. Keep us updated on your hatch.

If you want, I can find the link to an article I liked on integrating chicks at an early age.

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

Hope you enjoy your time here!

 

[Jenbirdee]

Hello!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

our silky brooder, but she’s getting over that life

I didn't think this was possible.

Trying to figure out how long I have to keep the chicks in a brooder box before setting them loose on the coop.

If you build the brooder inside the coop with hardware cloth separating it from the rest of the flock and use a mama heating pad or brooder plate for the heat source, you can begin integrating the chicks into the flock starting at 4 weeks old. You fashion chick size doors in the brooder so they can come and go but the bigs cannot get in. It takes about 2-4 weeks before the chicks stop going back to the brooder and roost with the flock. As long as you have enough space, it goes pretty smoothly.

 

[theoldchick]

I usually let mine out at 6 weeks.

 

[Nomadicus]

Hello and Welcome to BYC. A fun and informative community to be a part of.

 

[NagemTX]

Wow what a start to chicken keeping! Welcome to BYC!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

Usually by 5 or 6 weeks chicks are fully feathered and can head out to the coop. If you need to get them out earlier, you can take their heat source out with them and set it up so if they need it, it's there, if not they don't have to use it.

Welcome to our community!