Am I on track?

[Buckeye2002]

I am a BYC Rookie and I have 23 RIR chicks and they were a week old last Wednesday. I have them in a large kiddie pool (4 foot across) with 2 lamps, 2 feeders (now hanging off the floor) and 2 waterers. I just put a 3 foot wire fence (is that tall enough?) around the perimeter in preparation for when they are 8 weeks old at which time I plan to move them to their outdoor coop (my wife calls it my "Chicken Condo". I should post a picture.

My question is this: I just now have gotten them to actually come up to me and eat feed from my hand. In fact this started 2 days ago and now they seem to anticipate feed when I walk up to the pool. Now not all do this yet, but am I on schedule with them? I plan on free ranging them in the backyard and I want them to be very social with people.

Also, regarding moving them to the outdoor coop. I am in Omaha Nebraska and while we don't have extreme weather, it does get pretty cold here and we can get a good deal amount of snow. Should I wait a little longer before transferring them from my garage to the coop? If not, should I put heat lamps in the coop?

Any help for this newbie would be greatly appreciated. Oh, one more thing, is there such a thing as "treats" for chicks? In comparison to meal worms for adults.

Many thanks...

 

[MissChick@dee]

One thing you’ll learn as you take care/cleaning your coop is that you’ll make adjustments to suit you and your birds. Poop boards make clean up a snap so you might consider that when it comes to roosts. I’m old (lol) so roosts up high sounds like up high would be more work than waist high. Safer too for birds jumping down in a narrow space.
Don’t get discouraged your on the right track.
We’re all constantly learning and tweaking our own coops.
Do what’s best for you.
Everyone’s gonna give their 2 cents.
Best wishes

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks for mentioning where you are located. with that screen name I was expecting Ohio. Location is often important for more things than just climate. You might consider modifying your profile so that info always pops up.

How big are the holes in that fence? Can they get through? In another week they will physically be able to fly over it if they want to but usually they do not want to. Don't be totally shocked if you find one not in the brooder. Three feet should be high enough.

That looks like it is in your garage, probably attached. What kind of temperature swing do you get in there? That has a lot to do with how you heat it. In my opinion the ideal brooder has a spot warm enough in the coolest conditions and a spot cool enough in the warmest conditions. That's pretty easy to do if they are in a stable temperature but in my outdoor brooder in the coop I have gone from below freezing to in the 70's Fahrenheit in a day and a half. That is a bit more challenging.

I don't go by that drop it 5 degrees a week. I go more by the chicks. If they are as close to the heat as they can get they are cold. If they are as far from the heat as they can get they are too hot. Just you being there to take the photo can influence how they arrange themselves. Yours don't look bad. If you move the lamps so they are only over one side so the other side can cool off to a safe level you take all your stress out of it. They will determine where they want to be if given an option. In my 3'x6' brooder in the coop I heat one end. Sometimes the far end has ice in it, they stay on the toasty end. When the temps are warm, they go to the cooler far end.

We like photos. A shot of the coop and run would be interesting. It could open up possibilities. It sounds like you have electricity out there. If you really wanted to you could probably move them out there this weekend but keeping them in closer makes socializing them easier. Still it's something to keep in mind in case something happens where you need to move them.

I've had chicks go through nights with no supplemental heat when the temperatures were in the mid 20's F. These chicks were acclimated. By being in my brooder outside they were exposed to colder temperatures which helps them feather out faster. The grow-out coop where I had them had great breeze protection down low where they were but great ventilation up high so they got fresh air and moisture did not build up. Your temperatures are going to be colder than that in another month. If your coop provides good ventilation along with good breeze protection where they are and you can expose them to colder temps earlier to acclimate them there is no reason you have to wait 8 full weeks to move them out, certainly no longer.

One issue with 23 chicks I expect you to have is that they grow really fast. The older they get the bigger they will be. That pool is going to get really small pretty fast. They will not make eight weeks in it, they may not make five. That may mean moving them to the coop earlier than you plan. It may mean a bigger brooder. That is a common problem. One way to expand a brooder in a garage is to put something on the floor to protect the concrete from staining from their poop and use one or more large appliance boxes. They can be taped together for expansion.

One of the first things a broody hen does with her chicks is take them to a place where they can peck the ground. This accomplishes several things but a major one is that it gets grit into their system. After that they can eat all kinds of things you might call a treat. You might be surprised at how well they can peck things into bite sized pieces but it is a good idea for you to only give them things that are pretty small to start with. Often the hen breaks things up for them. The chicks need a balanced diet. The vast amount of their daily food intake should be chick feed. I don't give my brooder raised chicks any treats except for some dirt from the run but as long as they have grit and it is a small portion of what they eat it will not hurt them.

As far as what you can give them for treats, basically anything the adults can eat as long as it is in small pieces and they have grit. A broody hen does not go by a calendar for that. I don't think it really does them any good to have treats but as long as you don't overdo it I don't think it hurts them either.

 

[RoosterML]

You said you were going to free range your birds. I would start to whistle train them in the near future. If for some reason you need to lock them in a run or gather them up you will be happy you did. Every time you bring them a treat for example scratch (now that they are small i might use some small pieces of bread) i will always whistle and tap the container. Once you have there attention give them alittle. It won't take that long that once you whistle they come running over. Just keep repeating this daily. Now when i do let the birds free range and i want to put them back in the pen all i need to do is whistle and you see little feather balls come running out from everywhere. Most people that come over get a kick out of it. I found this has been very helpful in keeping chooks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Let me see if I understand everyone. They are 10 days old and by 21 days (3weeks) the will be able to jump/fly high enough to get over the 3 foot fence?

They will physically be capable of flying over the 3' high fence. Whether they actually will or not depends on how badly they want to. I keep my adult chickens inside 4' high electric netting. Every day they fly up to a 5' high roost with no problems and could easily go higher if they had a need, yet they do not fly over that 4' high netting. Conditions are such inside that they have no reason t leave. Occasionally when cockerels are in a dominance fight the loser gets trapped next to that netting and goes vertical to escape. He might accidentally land on the wrong side of the netting. He has the physical ability to fly over the netting but unless he is trapped he doesn't want to bad enough to just fly out.

Will your chicks fly over a 3' high fence? I do not know. They might, they might not. It depends on how badly one wants to. Often 3' high is enough but you don't get guarantees on behaviors with living animals.


The shear number of chicks mean that the will outgrow my current pool very quickly and I need to either expand or move them to the coop early? Now I will be running electricity out there and can put the heat lamps in there. Should I do 1 or put both out there. My coop is 36” x 161” with 4 levels of perches and 6 nesting boxes.

Your 4' diameter pool is roughly equivalent to a 3' x 4' brooder (12.5 square feet). My first brooder was 3' x 5'. I kept 28 chicks (almost all female) in there until the were 5 weeks old. I kept another batch of 21 (almost all male) in there for 5 weeks. Males need a little more room than females. In both cases they were OK but that brooder was getting really full. With your 23 full sized fowl (not bantam) RIR chicks of unknown sex I'd expect that brooder to be really full between 4 to 5 weeks.

I'd guess you have about 2-1/2 weeks to get something ready. That could be the coop, that could be a larger brooder. If you ask at an appliance store you can probably get a few large cardboard boxes for free. With some tape you can make a really large brooder in your garage.

In Omaha you can get some pretty cold weather at any time. You can also have some pleasant weather. In Arkansas I had temperatures go from below freezing to the 70's in a 36 hour span. Your coop would need to be set up to handle that type of temperature swings if you move them out there. There are different ways to provide heat out there, heat plates, heat pads, hovers, or other things. I don't use those so I don't know how to set those up for 23 chicks.

I use heat lamps to heat one end and let the far end cool off as it will. I sometimes find ice in the far end but the chicks stay on the toasty end when it is that cold. When the weather warms up they spend a lot of time on the far end where it is not too hot. In winter when it can get below freezing I use two heat lamps in case one goes out. I've never had one fail but it can be a disaster if one does in those temps.

When you hang a heat lamp throw away the clamp that came with it so you are not tempted to rely on it. Use wire (not string or plastic that can burn or melt) to secure it so it cannot fall. After you do that get a second piece of wire and provide back-up. That will eliminate almost all of the risk of fire. If they are out there for a couple of weeks in this set-up they should not need any supplemental heat after 6 weeks of age. You can provide it longer if it makes you feel better but they really won't need it.

One issue you can have is that the water can freeze. There are a lot of different ways to handle that but I keep my water in the heated area.

That coop is small by our standards. If you wish you can follow the link in my signature to see why I think extra room can be important. I understand commercial operations can and do provide coops with that much square footage per chicken but we are generally not commercial operations. It would be interesting to see photos of that coop to see how it as arranged being only 3' wide.

I don't consider the coop in isolation but consider it as part of your overall "space" system along with the run. How much total room you have, how it is arranged, and when it is available are important. In Omaha in winter it is possible that they will be trapped inside the coop only (run not available) for long periods of time due to weather. At that kind of chicken density you run risks of behavioral problems.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Other than the windows are there any vents that aren't easily seen, especially in the roof area? With that sharply pitched roof that would be a fantastic place to add ventilation openings.

The base is surrounded by wire for pests I assume? Go much smaller... 1/4" or 1/2" hardware cloth or welded wire, in order to keep out rodents which will be attracted to the underside of the coop.

 

[pwiker]

Lower your temperature in the brooder by 5 degrees each week from 95 the first week. At week 5, remove the extra heat and let them begin to get used to the cool. You will not want to shock them into the cold, so let the garage cool down or don't heat it at all. By 6-8 weeks they should be fully feathered and ready to go to the big coop. If it's really cold (below 25F), I would just close the coop and let them stay busy inside. If it warms up during the day (30 or higher), let them out to wander.

Treats for chicks can be introduced around 2 weeks of age. 2 things to pay attention to. Don't give them so many treats that they don't eat their food. Second, provide them grit so that anything they eat (vegetation etc) can be digested. Meal worms work fine for chicks once they figure out that they can eat them.

Finally, handling them often is the only way to socialize them. Using feed to coax them will work. Consistent and daily handling will go a long way. Have fun!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Your chicks will surely enjoy running back and forth through the gaps in that 2X4 inch welded wire.

A little hint. Lose the whole idea of "Treats" Chicken treats are for men and women who are frustrated parents or grand parents and who are trying to cope by making their chickens their family. I will however admit that a little (say a teaspoon) parakeet or other pet bird feed widely sprinkled in the shavings will encourage you chicks to scatter their litter and keep it drier.

 

[123RedBeard]

Are all of your chicks pullets? (Female? )

Coop seems like a small space for that many birds ... it seems like they will have full 24/7 access to the lower portion? (Ramp look kinda steep to me)

How often are they gonna be able to come out to the rest of the yard?

How do you plan to gather the eggs?

How do you plan to clean the far end of the coop?

Have thought about where to put water and food?

Roof peaks could use some vents too ...

 

[Compost King]

One thing you’ll learn as you take care/cleaning your coop is that you’ll make adjustments to suit you and your birds. Poop boards make clean up a snap so you might consider that when it comes to roosts. I’m old (lol) so roosts up high sounds like up high would be more work than waist high. Safer too for birds jumping down in a narrow space.
Don’t get discouraged your on the right track.
We’re all constantly learning and tweaking our own coops.
Do what’s best for you.
Everyone’s gonna give their 2 cents.
Best wishes

^Well Said^... best to try what you have and make adjustments. I bet your first adjustment is doing your nesting boxes differently... the number one concern, which you seem to have gotten right is security at night. Mistakes with that are not fun to discover the hard way. (oops I thought I was on your other thread lol)