Chicks outside 4 weeks old

[Lazy Farmer]

If your birds are in your house, they should have been off heat all together at 3 weeks of age. My birds wean themselves off heat at 4 - 5 weeks of age with night time temps down to 30*.

@Farmer Connie, Even if I brooded chicks in the house, they would still be out without heat at 4 - 5 weeks old!

If anyone is concerned, they can give the chicks a huddle box or a wool hen.

we heat lamp for 3 days/ 75 watt incandescent for about another 7 if that. Although my brooder room stays in the 90's anyway. Multiple hatches. mean other lamps in other brooders heating the room. Last week it was high 90s in there.. crazy.. This pic I took for another thread.. took forever to find it on my phone..

The ovens need to be adjusted as the chicks sell from the heat not needed anymore. The barn has new graduates in there right now.. It is a hot dry spring here.
I agree on less heat. In the spring in fl.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Do they need light at night? I only keep mine on for light so they don’t get hurt overnight.

not for 60s..

 

[bobbi-j]

Do they need light at night? I only keep mine on for light so they don’t get hurt overnight.

Chickens don't need light at night. Once they go to roost, they stay there until daylight. They don't move around. It's good for them to have a day/night cycle, just like it is for people.

 

[Evomrgirl]

They won’t go into the coop if there’s no light on in there. They just roost on the stairs ... I turn on the light and they go right in. Any suggestions on how to get them to go in? Lol.

 

[lazy gardener]

Give them a night light for a short time period. Maybe on a timer. They should be putting themselves to bed before dark. If they won't go in the coop at dusk, I wonder if you don't have enough windows in your coop? My coop has 3 windows plus people door which is full glass pane.

 

[Evomrgirl]

Give them a night light for a short time period. Maybe on a timer. They should be putting themselves to bed before dark. If they won't go in the coop at dusk, I wonder if you don't have enough windows in your coop? My coop has 3 windows plus people door which is full glass pane.

It has one vent at the top. And a door in the back I could cover with hardware cloth. I usually leave the coop closed at night.

 

[lazy gardener]

That's the issue. Not enough natural light, and certainly not enough ventilation. You need 1 s.f. of ventilation per bird. some of that should be windows.

 

[Evomrgirl]

:O

 

[Backyard Bruce]

That's the issue. Not enough natural light, and certainly not enough ventilation. You need 1 s.f. of ventilation per bird. some of that should be windows.

You sure it’s 1 square per bird?

That seems like an awful lot of open wall when you get into larger flocks.

Isn’t it 1 square per 10 square feet of floor space.

 

[lazy gardener]

In a tiny coop, I recommend 1 s.f./bird. In a larger coop, b/c there is so many more cu. ft. of space, it can be 1 s.f./10 s.f. of floor space. My coop is 10 x 12, load capacity is 30 birds. I have 16' of soffit vent, a floor level vent, 2 gable vents, 3 windows. Plus a full size people door, pop door, 2 x 4 clean out door, and an other set of doors to broody area that total about 15 s.f. and nest box doors that add an other 7 s.f. On a hot day, I can open it ALL up. So just counting windows and vents, I have 24 s.f. But, if I add all the other openings, there is about 60 s.f. of ventilation!