tumalochick
In the Brooder
North Central OR here, brand new to chicken raising, but excited to begin to use the massive coop our new-to-us farm homestead came with. Seriously - it was built as a 5-star hen resort, but has been neglected for years. There are 14 nesting boxes and as many rows to roost! Also has a fully enclosed run!
First pic is part way through our mucking-out-spree. It's all cleaned out now and ready to disinfect and (eventually) house some hens!
I currently have 4 chicks that are 2.5 weeks-ish old and a shipment of 10+ babies coming tomorrow. Prepping to move the whole crew to a larger brooder (old horse through) setup in the coop with heat lamps. Admittedly, I'm nervous to put them in the coop so soon, (even with heat lamps and a small heated hover), since we lost two chicks already. But I'm told by all the locals chicken folks that they'll be fine.How do you all handle chicks/brooder/COR temperatures?
Also wondering if anybody in a more rural setting covered their run? I know they won't be out in the run for quite a few weeks, but I'm really debating that, since so many people free-range and do fine? How do I know if I need one?
But mostly checking in and saying hi!
That is awesome you inherited such a great setup! We are somewhat rural Tumalo (5acres) and my babies were in a horse trough for the first 5-6 weeks. We finally got the coop finished and moved them out last weekend. We had below freezing temps Sun and Monday nights and they've survived with no heat lamps. I did wean them slowly from the heat lamp in the garage though. I would turn it off during the day and turn it on at night for a while then turned it off completely for a while. They love their new digs! Lots more room!
We got 9 more babies last weekend too, so they are now in the horse trough. 16 total now
We will cover a portion of our run closest to the coop (run isn't finished yet) just due to the amount of snow we get. I want them to have a bit of snow free space!
Welcome to CO chicken raising!!!