How long do you keep the chicks in the brooders? How long until a hen starts laying? How long until a rooster starts crowing? On the "large breed" chickens, how long until they are consisdered "full grown"? Thanks for your help!
I kept my last batch of babies in the brooder til they were between 6-7 weeks old before I moved them out to their coop in mid April. It was still a little cold at night tho, so we had a light in there for them and plenty of pine shaving and they were fine. My hens are heavy breed and they started laying at the end of 4 months. My rooster started crowing at three months and wait til you hear those first crows! It will crack you up! Sounds like an old oohga horn from an old car!
Thanks for the info... are the chickens generally "full grown" by the time they start laying? Is the length of time spent in the brooder based more on age or outside temps? My batch is scheduled to arrive at the end of April and I'm trying to figure out how much longer I have to finish up the coop...
CountryGal, My peeps remain in the brooder until it is warm enough to go into the coop, and then I use a light at night to keep the chicks from piling. I never place them out before they are fully feathered, 8 weeks or older.If warm enough. Pullets are close to full size when they begin to lay at around 20 weeks old, however they aren't mature until they are a year old and are considered hens then. Cockerals are considered roosters when they reach a year old also.
I keep mine in the brooder till they are fully feathered (all body parts are covered in actual feathers with down only visible under the real feathers) or until outside temps are 70 during the day and 50 at night whichever is LAST. Different breeds lay earlier or later, hatchery birds generally earlier than heritage/breeder birds. An overwhelming number of breeds that most people get at local feed stores lay at approx 20 weeks. Though my hatchery Brahma took 9 mos. My 7 week old d'Uccle is trying to crow, my Brahma rooster didn't crow till he was almost 7 MONTHS old. My typical large breeds reached full weight at about 9 mos, my Brahmas were well over 18 mos.
My brooder is outside to start, and by 4 weeks old they are totally off any and all heat sources and the brooder pen is removed. Guess it all depends on what you're comfortable doing, what your setup is like, and how long you are willing to have them in the house.