Coop Brooding vs Indoor

[peapod0313]

I've always raised indoors but this year I decided to do half and half... First couple weeks they lived inside then moved them to the coop ... I found my hens accepted the babies with very little problem!!!

 

[angryzeena]

I have a lovely chick shed with compartments for different ages and I use heat lamps but have been trying to figure a different heat source.

 

[angryzeena]

Outdoor brooding: They are acclimated to outdoor conditions from day one. They have more brooding space available to them. They get to act like chickens. They are not crowded into a tiny little space that is apt to overheat. If you brood them with a heat pad instead of a heat lamp, they have natural day/night rhythms. You are more apt to get them into an outdoor run at an earlier age, which helps them develop their immune system.

Indoor brooding: IMO, it's helpful to get them started under your watchful eye... for the first 24 - 48 hours. Otherwise: Indoor brooding brings with it: dander and bedding dust which is hard on human lungs, it coats your entire home with a fine layer of oily silt. Chicks are noisy. Children and pets can unintentionally harm little chicks. It doesn't take long for chicks in a tiny brooder to start stinking. It's very easy to overheat chicks in an indoor brooder. You have to acclimate them to the coop. Chickens don't like change! If you're using a heat lamp to brood chicks, IMO, it's no safer to use it in the house than it is to use it in the coop. If you're going to introduce a fire risk, better to do so outside your home. (Did I mention that I am a fan of heat pad brooding????????!!!!!!!!!)

I have a chick shed with compartments for different ages and we use heat lamps. I have been trying to figure out a different heat source. Would you give some more details on heat pad brooding please?

 

[azygous]

Go read Blooie's gonzo thread "Mama Heating Pad for the Brooder". The first few pages has most of the info you need. But join the thread because it's very active and you'll get your questions answered immediately.

 

[Painted Lady]

Hi! I'm new to this group and chickens. I have a lot to learn. On this particular subject, I really want biddies and I plan on doing it all in the coop. I don't have room in the house and I have cats. What do I know about chooks so far? But it only seems natural to me and I feel it would make them hardier. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Painted Lady]

Let me add that I live in coastal NC. Between June and September I wouldn't think you'd have to worry about heat lamps. If they don't die of heat and humidity I'll be impressed.

 

[Blooie]

Hi! I'm new to this group and chickens. I have a lot to learn. On this particular subject, I really want biddies and I plan on doing it all in the coop. I don't have room in the house and I have cats. What do I know about chooks so far? But it only seems natural to me and I feel it would make them hardier. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Unfortunately, we just can't predict broodiness. Some chickens never go broody, others rarely lay because they are too busy being broody - time after time after time! It is definitely far more natural to raise chicks in the coop under a broody hen. But sometimes a broody will sit very well, then when the eggs start hatching they panic and kill or ignore the chicks. Then we end up raising them ourselves anyway. And sometimes eggs just don't hatch. So there are tons of variables that make the perfect scenario of a proud mama hen strutting around with her babies around her an game of roulette.

That said, I'd still 10 times rather do it that way myself - have a nice broody spot all set up, a willing hen, and viable, fertilized eggs to put under her. Hasn't happened yet - I've only had one chicken go broody, and that was a variety that's not well known for going broody - an Easter Egger. Out of her first clutch of 15 eggs, one hatched. The next time we put 9 under her. Nada. The third time we just put her in a broody buster cage and broke her because we knew it was probably hopeless anyway, plus she would have been raising those chicks in the dead of a Wyoming winter.

Silly chickens!

 

[Sonja1018]

My set-up... coop/pen is a 10x20x6ft tall dog kennel. It houses 13 hens, 2 muscovies, 2cayugas, & 2 pilgrim geese (ducks & geese are male/female pairs). The birds all free range on pasture & pond during the day and locked in their at night. Because of climbing predators and coyotes, I put a couple of dogs in the pasture to guard the pen overnight. The muscovie and goose hens are sitting on eggs together... sharing nests, eggs, and brooding duties. LOL Tonight we discovered the first fuzzy hatching, a little gosling.

And a goose egg (under the duck) is pipping. The muscovie ducklings should be coming in another 5-6 days. Leaving the pen tonight, I began to worry about the wee webbies wandering through the fence & into danger. So I sat and obsessed over the situation for a bit and I think I may have a plan. What do you think of having a "whelping box" in the pen? I'm thinking a 4'x4' wood box with 12in walls. A section of one wall cut down to just 5in for moms to easily come and go but keep the fuzziness safe inside. Bird Pen - The goats like to visit and help out with any leftover foods.

The Moms-to-be, Aviva and Juliet.

Pilgrim Parents - Juliet & Ollie

Welcome to the world little one.

Goose egg pipping under the duck. "Momma" duck nipping me as little gosling watches.

Example of the whelping box idea.

 

[pjnbill22]

After reading articles by @Blooie & @azygous, I will never brood indoors or use a heat lamp again!
I'm still mourning the lost sleep from chicks peeping all night! I'm so happy not to have an inch of dust everywhere in my house, even 10 minutes after cleaning!
I'm breathing so much easier without constantly coughing, sneezing and wheezing! (Earlier this year, I missed a week of work due to asthmatic bronchitis due to the dust and dander)
The last hatch was put out with a Mama heating pad as soon as the last chick was dry enough to leave the incubator. They have been in a kennel, in full view of the rest of the flock since then.
With past hatches, we always lost a few birds (usually our favorites) to coccidiosis once we moved them from the brooder to the coop. Since this hatch has gone directly outside, we have not lost one of them!
This weekend, they will be placed in the free-range area, still in their kennel, but they will really be getting to know the rest of the flock. We hope to be integrating them fully within the next few weeks.
If you have reservations about trying the Mama heating pad brooding or outdoor brooding, this is probably the best time of year to give it a test run.
I didn't try it until our tenth, or maybe it was our eleventh hatch, and I'm so sorry that I didn't make the change a long time ago!
Give it a go... Then share your experience with others. I think our families and our flocks will be so much healthier for it!
Thanks @Blooie and @azygous for sharing!

 

[going cheep]

Ok, so bare with me on this, as I know some of my questions have been answered, but I'd like some reassurance for the way I envisage transferring my chicks.

So I have two chicks who are now 10 days old. I currently am housing them in a 3ft x 1.5ft vivarium which is 10inches high. My tortoise who would normally occupy this space is enjoying the freedom of my garden during the day and is brought back inside at night. So the set up has a 60w heat lamp which was hung very close to the chicks, but outside of the enclosure, the vivarium is set up inside my home out of all drafts, I have just moved the lamp up a couple of inches as they spend little time underneath it and i'd like to encourage feathering asap.

The chicks have also been coming out with me for about 2 hours each day in a sectioned area of my garden when the sun is out, here they have been scratching, eating bugs and flitting across my garden exercising their wings. They are pretty confident and capable of finding lots of bugs.

The vivarium that I have them in still allows them to stretch and flit about, but not for much longer. They are starting to feather out slightly, but not significantly. I would like them outside by next weekend, when they are 2 1/2 weeks old, if possible.

I was considering the purchase of an Ecoglow or something similar. I know you have recommendations for doing it yourself, by which I presume that they are homemade equivalents (I'm not very confident with doing things from scratch)?

I have a coop which I plan to keep them in for the majority of the time and allow them free reign of most of my garden when I am home. The coop will be in a sheltered area and the likely temperatures for the following weeks are 65 to 75 during the day and 50 to 60 at night.

So my questions are:

Will the chicks need the extra heat as there are only 2 of them?
Do I simply place the heat source into their roosting area?
Are they (the ecoglow and equivalent) all made waterproof and therefore I only need to ensure that I have an outside socket?
Is there an interim step that I should be using?

I'm keen to get them outside as soon as possible so that my home starts to feel like it's mine again and, as these are meat birds and I'm unlikely to be able to keep them in good health for too long, so I'd like them to have as much chicken experience as possible.

Any responses gratefully received.



I'd also like to add that I will be getting layers (hopefully spangled Russian Orloffs) in a couple of weeks so will start this process again, but with a better long term prospect!