Can you raise baby chicks in the coop?

[PippinTheChicken]

I'm about to make a new coop and I was wondering if I could use any spare space to brood chicks.
Obviously the brooder will be off limits to the hens, and I'll use a heat lamp.
Has anyone done this before?

 

[rosemarythyme]

What temperature is "quite cold"? (And please state whether you're using fahrenheit or celsius.)

x2.

Unlike some others when I say I brood outdoors, I'm doing it in the run, and as soon as I get them (2-3 days old). As long as they stay dry and have a draft-free, heated area to use, they've been fine down to mid 40Fs. I also use a mama heating pad. I've never lost a chick brooding that way and they seem a lot perkier and energetic compared to chicks brooded inside the house.

 

[NatJ]

I'm about to make a new coop and I was wondering if I could use any spare space to brood chicks.
Obviously the brooder will be off limits to the hens, and I'll use a heat lamp.
Has anyone done this before?

Here's an article I like, about someone who broods chicks in a section of their coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
(I also like aart's article, but that's already been mentioned.)

A few questions...

1. The UK is quite cold, will they be ok just with a MHP? Should I use a heat lamp as well for the 1st week?

What temperature is "quite cold"? (And please state whether you're using fahrenheit or celsius.)

I've brooded chicks in several different coop-type setting with a heat lamp. With a heat lamp, I'm sure they can be fine no matter what the outdoor temperature is. Just make sure the area directly under the lamp is the right temperature, and the rest is warm enough that water does not freeze, and then they can run back and forth as they please.

Chicks can be raised with a broody hen when nights drop below freezing (chicks stay warm under the hen at night) and days are somewhat above freezing (chicks pop out to eat, then go back under to stay warm. As they get older, they spend more time out from under the hen.)

I don't have any personal experience with a MHP, so you'll have to hear from someone who uses it.

 

[abpatchy]

A few questions...

1. The UK is quite cold, will they be ok just with a MHP? Should I use a heat lamp as well for the 1st week?
2. Do they stay inside the coop until a certain age? Or should they be outside everyday?
3. How do you brood them? What kind of brooder do you use

I live in Germany, so our climate is similar. I move my chicks in the coop when they are about 8-9 days old. That's when they get their coccidia immunization. And as they are supposed to live on the same bedding afterwards, that's when they get moved. I hatch starting in late March until early May. They have a heating plate. If it is very cold I place the heating plate inside a cardboard box that is laying on it's side.to help keep the warmth. That way they can run around, eat, drink and have fun. When they get cold they can go under the plate again. They have had no issues so far. I have had them in the coop with minus celsius tempertatures.
I do keep them inside until they are about 4-5 weeks old. All depending on the weather. Mainly because of the coccidia immunization. Cold and rainy ... they stay inside. If spring has some warm temps and sunshine I allow them outside in a limited space.
After they hatch I keep them in a puppy playpen with bedding. After that just the coop with bedding.

 

[aart]

I do, but I use a heat plate, would not use a lamp.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm about to make a new coop and I was wondering if I could use any spare space to brood chicks.
Obviously the brooder will be off limits to the hens, and I'll use a heat lamp.
Has anyone done this before?

I think others have dissuaded you already, but I have to chime in.

Please don't use a heat lamp in a coop EVER. I personally have burned a coop down doing this (and nearly the house too). I've had friends who have burned a coop down using a heat lamp. The dust created by chickens is enormous, even chicks. That heats up at the lamp and combusts. So NEVER, EVER use a heat lamp in a coop.

There is a heating pad method by one of the members here (@aart ?) that might be an option.

I personally use brooding hens in the coop with great success. To get started I sought out Silkie breeders and picked up a very broody gal that was a proven momma. That has worked wonderfully, and SAFELY, and now I have regular coop brooding within the flock after generations of raising with broodies.

But never, ever, a heat lamp in the coop again. We almost lost everything on the property. (It went up like a roman candle...you can see the result on my member page here https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/lady-of-mccamleys-member-page.53374/.

Good luck with your flock.
LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

In answer to what time of year, I can't resist.

With annoyingly frequent brooders, like a stable of Silkie gals (and now their mixed breed daughters), I pretty much can brood, if I want, about every 3 months, no matter the season.

My gals have hatched in the dead of winter, snow on the ground, freezing rain...all you need is a loving momma hen, dry covered run, plenty of shavings in the coop nest.

My broody hatched babes (and I've heard the mother heating pad works similar) grow faster, lay earlier, and are far stronger and healthier than my artificial lamp babes...and yes, one year I did side by side comparison.

Babes do NOT need high heat temps to be strong. You actually thwart their growth like hot house plants. They simply need a warming hutch (momma or heat pad) then safe ability to run around in their down jackets dry.

Look again at my member page (photo wouldn't upload here). You can see my broodies out in the run with the snow on the ground...there are babes at their feet (which are hard to see as they blend into the bark). Those hatched in January with snow on the ground...and were laying by about 16 weeks.

LofMc

 

[Ebony Rose]

Preface: I live in the tropics, warm weather, year round.
I brood my newborn chicks for three days inside with a heat plate and then transfer them and the heat plate to a bottomless cage on the floor of the coop (not under the roosts so that they don't get soiled as the adult birds sleep). Once the chicks are about two or three weeks old, moving about with agility, I raise the cage by inserting blocks under the corners so that the chicks can come and go freely, but the big birds cannot get into it. After another week or two they're usually well integrated with the flock.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Thanks for all your help! I want to hatch and raise my own chicks (because they're friendlier), but my dad didn't want all the smell and dust in the house- thought I was doomed! But gladly we're making a new coop big enough!!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

my dad didn't want all the smell and dust in the house- thought I was doomed! But gladly we're making a new coop big enough!!!

I have to agree with your dad, and it'll make for more well adjusted chicks as well.