Brooder top small?

[Aunt Angus]

When I got the 4 I have now, I was a first-timer, too. I had a similar set up, except I didn't have a lamp (I used a home made mama heating pad). When my brooder set up got too small, I moved them into the big coop outside. The weather here was HOT (summer in Cali's Sacramento Valley). I moved the heating pad out with them. They were under 3 weeks old. They were fine. They were actually better than fine - they were super happy to be out of my little tote!

If it is super cold where you live, I would move them into the garage in that red coop, too. And add a little dust bath, if they seem interested. Just be prepared for them to make a mess!

Also KUDOS to you for being so prepared with not one but TWO coops already completed and good to go! Many people (myself included) don't even have ONE done before chicks arrive!

 

[Aunt Angus]

DEF put hardware cloth. I have not seen ANY predators where I live, but I'm not willing to chance it! My run is welded wire with hardware cloth on the bottom two feet and a buried "apron" of hardware cloth extending out two feet from the sides. My coop bottom is wrapped in hardware cloth (mine sits on the ground) and has it two feet of the stuff lining the coop sides (under the siding). I worry about rats that can chew through siding. And skunks, raccoons, and opossum that can reach through the welded wire and grab chickens.