CHICKS MOVING INTO COOP - NEED SOME ADVICE - 1st TIMER

[mritti]

Our Five 5 week old chicks will be moving into their coop next week. Should I allow them access to the nesting boxes or find a way to close those off to they aren't in there just pooping or should I allow them access since they have been sleeping under a brooder light in a big box and may want to feel more secure in a box? The lows at night are around 55 degrees so I am assuming they will be okay without a heat lamp since the will be 5 weeks and have quite a bit of feathers (but still a little fluff).


Thanks for any advice!!!

 

[Featherballs]

They won’t need the nesting boxes at the moment so closing them off will keep them clean and keep them from getting in the habit of sleeping in them. I put mine in the coop around 6weeks but if they already have some feathers you should still be ok with just sticking them in there, if it drops below 45-50ish you can kick on the heat lamp.

 

[jthornton]

Some photos of your coop and putting your location in your profile will help.

JT

 

[GC-Raptor]

If they aren't used to roosting, they may sleep in the nests, depending on your setup.

With my first Flock I didn't install the nests till 16 weeks old when I noticed a pullet acting strangely.
I quickly built and installed the nests.
The next day the pullet was cackling and trying to make a nest in a corner of the coop.
I picked her up and put her in the nest. 35 minutes later she was making noise and came out of the coop. . It was a hot July 30. I found this small egg in the nest. . White egg is ceramic. So I would block the nests till they are 15 weeks old. That should give them time to explore the nests before laying.
She was a Golden Comet, a sex-links, they are known to be early layers. My Barred Rocks didn't start laying till 20 weeks GC

 

[mritti]

They won’t need the nesting boxes at the moment so closing them off will keep them clean and keep them from getting in the habit of sleeping in them. I put mine in the coop around 6weeks but if they already have some feathers you should still be ok with just sticking them in there, if it drops below 45-50ish you can kick on the heat lamp.

Thank you!

 

[mritti]

If they aren't used to roosting, they may sleep in the nests, depending on your setup.

With my first Flock I didn't install the nests till 16 weeks old when I noticed a pullet acting strangely.
I quickly built and installed the nests.
The next day the pullet was cackling and trying to make a nest in a corner of the coop.
I picked her up and put her in the nest. 35 minutes later she was making noise and came out of the coop.View attachment 2151592. It was a hot July 30. I found this small egg in the nest.View attachment 2151590. White egg is ceramic. So I would block the nests till they are 15 weeks old. That should give them time to explore the nests before laying.
She was a Golden Comet, a sex-links, they are known to be early layers. My Barred Rocks didn't start laying till 20 weeks GC

super helpful - appreciate it! thank you!!

 

[mritti]

Some photos of your coop and putting your location in your profile will help.

JT

finishing this weekend - will post soon

 

[rosemarythyme]

Up to you whether you want to block the nests off or not... reason I say this is because even though you don't want them sleeping in there, if they're not inclined to jump in, there's really no need to cover them. My last batch of chicks showed no interest in nest boxes so we left them uncovered. Hopefully current batch of chicks will also show no interest.