Am I to keep my new baby chicks in the house for awhile?

[doodlebugbug]

I just got my 9 Buff Brama Bantams today!!! I got them from My Pet Chicken...all active and healthy. Well, reading a book & info....it implies that I need to keep them in the house for a few weeks. Is that so? Today I have them in a cardboard box with a red infrared light...temp 95 degrees...sugar in the water. Our coop will be done tonight, but should I keep the chicks inside the house for a few weeks? Or, can they go in the coop, in a draft shield with the light?...or will the temps be too much for them? Help! Also, what do you do in the coop if the outdoor temps are awful hot. I have 2 windows and door that will open (chicken wire over inside door). Can you put a small fan inside the coop to keep it cooler...or will it chill the chicks, even though you direct the fan overhead.

 

[JackieK318]

I have my chicks in the garage now. You don't want to prematurely put them in the coop as a snake could get them, regardless of the fort-type provisions you have created. I'd give them a few weeks until they have some fight in them. Chickens have the ability to peck a snake to death if old enough and in groups. Also, if you keep them inside, it's easier to spend time with them while watching TV, veggin' out of whatnot in the evening. You don't have to begrudgingly put shoes on and run out to the coop!

As far as cooling the coop, I wouldn't have anything directed at the chicks, but an exhaust fan should be fine, or a window fan pointed so it's blowing out the window/door. They'll tell you if they're hot or cold - just read they body language.

 

[KatM]

Mine are 2 1/2 weeks and are currently hanging out in a kiddie pool in our sun room. As soon as our coop is ready, they'll move out, assuming they'll have all their feathers by then. The cats are REALLY interested in them and one of the dogs sits in front of the pool - gulping and drooling.

 

[earthy_chicks]

We kept ours in our foyer for the first two weeks just so they could constantly hear our voices and bond to us and then moved them t the garage. I'm not sure if it made a difference or not.

 

[ella]

If you can keep the temp. constant it doesn't matter where they are (assuming it's secure from predators). The advantage with keeping them in the house is a constant temp and the ease of monitoring them.

They are so delicate during the first 3-5 weeks just a few degrees fluctuation can stress or kill them.

Fans are a great way to keep the coop cool, but again, they are so delicate as chicks I would be nervous about relying on a fan to keep the temp correct.

 

[wren]

Keep them inside for at least 2 weeks. Monitoring outside chicks is tough and dangerous for the babies.

 

[2mnypets]

I probably kept mine indoors for too long. They were with us in the house for about 6 weeks. Kinda like being a new mom again....you figure no one can take care of your kids like you can. I was very protective, but my girls and lil roo Poopybutt are now the tamest, calmest most loving chickens I've come across. They will jump into my arms and if I happen to sit/lean against their ladder roost my hubby made, well they are jumping and climbing all over me. They'll preen my hair and still try to peck at the occasional freckle they find on my arm. They'll look into my glasses but won't peck at them. They know the glasses are off limits. It's quite comic to see a bunch of chickens just lounging all over you. My husband just laughs and remarks about how easy egg collecting will be.

My point is this....the more one on one personal time you have with your chicks in the beginning when they are forming their world, the better relationship the chickens will have with you, as well as they will be more behaved. You will reap what you sow.

 

[urbanhomesteader]

I agree with ella As long as they are warm,free from drafts and preditors, they can go in the coop.
My first batch of chicks I kept inside for 5 weeks. When I got the last two chicks they went out to the coop after a week. It didn't do them any harm.

I put them in the nest box. LOL! They had a light, food and water in there and
I covered the entrance with wire so the big girls couldn't peck them but they can see them.

 

[jkm]

My first set, was in the house, my second set went straight to the coop with a heat lamp, and it worked fine. I have mesh in front of the coop, and everynight we pulled the plastic tarp down for warmth.
they see us , hear us and get handled once a day and are very nice chicks, three buff orps and two barred rock.
My mom and I agrreed it was so much easier straight into the coop.
we watch them play with their roost, about two weeks old now.
Oregon had a run of perfect weather 75 degree days, no rain until two nights ago,
so would I bring them in the house again, no.

I think breeding has a lot to do with friendliness! just like dogs. My second set of birds are from a better hatchery,

cheers