Brooding in coop?

[Bead8210]

How sensitive are the baby chicks if I were to set up the brooder box in the coop with the rest of the flock the chicks would be kept separate for quite awhile other than sharing the space with the older girls chicks behind the brooder walls with mesh on top so no injuries but I don’t heat the coop period I would run just the heater plate for chicks but if it’s nice day after a few weeks would I be ok to turn the plate off and let Mother Nature heat them up?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Depends on what your high/low temperatures are in the coop. I have some temperatures and ages in this brooding thread here, to give you an idea of what to expect as far as temperature needs of chicks as they age: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...egrate-along-from-feed-store-to-coop.1617102/

 

[debid]

Some of us never put chicks in our house. And I didn't wait for the weather to warm up because I was confident in my heat source and my ability to bridge the gap with shipping heat packs if there were a power outage.

This might help give you some ideas about how to make a setup in the coop work for you;

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors.71995/

 

[LaurenRitz]

As soon as the chicks are all hatched and floofy, they go out to the brooder coop.

I'd say leave the brooder plate on and let them self-regulate. They do seem to feather out faster if exposed to cold.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree, it depends on what temperatures you are dealing with. I use a heat lamp so I want the brooder big enough so they can get away from the heat if they need to. With a brooder plate you are not going to have that concern but is it rated for your low temperatures? I have not used them but I've read that some are only good for down to 50 F (10 C).

Another concern, especially in colder weather, is to keep a breeze off of them.

I've put chicks in mine straight from the incubator when the overnight temperatures were below freezing. As long as the heated area was warm enough and breezes blocked they did fine. I've put them in when daytime highs were hitting above 110 F (43 C) and overnight lows were over 90 F (32 C). I turns the daytime heat off at 2 days and the overnight heat off at 5 days. I should have done it sooner, it was really hot.

So, yes, having the brooder in tie coop is doable.