Do I really have to keep chicks in brooder for 6 weeks?

[bobbi-j]

If you want to keep your chicks safe, then absolutely! If they are that small, they can get easily caught by predators.

No - you don’t have to keep them in a brooder for 6 weeks to keep them safe from a predator. My 3 week old chicks have the run of the 8x8’ coop, and will soon be in the run as soon as I get the fence reinforce. As long as the coop and run are predator proof, they are fine.

 

[silkie10]

I got 13 chicks this year and most of them are going on 2 weeks this weekend. They are getting crowded in the bin I've been keeping them in in the mud room so I'm thinking of a good next step... garage w newspaper and maybe baby pool? I've seen lots of posts on baby chicks in small brooders but hardly anything on how to manage them when they are 2-6 weeks.

Do I really have I keep them in the garage for 6 weeks if it's warm outside? I feel like they are going to get so bored and it will be a huge mess.

Anyone have a better solution?

Thank you!

I usually keep mine in a dog crate with chicken wire wrapped around it. If you were to do this, make sure you wrap it good so snakes don't get in and baby chickens don't get out.

 

[kaythlin]

I got 13 chicks this year and most of them are going on 2 weeks this weekend. They are getting crowded in the bin I've been keeping them in in the mud room so I'm thinking of a good next step... garage w newspaper and maybe baby pool? I've seen lots of posts on baby chicks in small brooders but hardly anything on how to manage them when they are 2-6 weeks.

Do I really have I keep them in the garage for 6 weeks if it's warm outside? I feel like they are going to get so bored and it will be a huge mess.

Anyone have a better solution?

Thank you!

mines ever since they were a week old they stayed outside allll day and in the nights we keep them in there brooder and they live a nice and happy life since its sleeping time and if its cold they wont need much space and they like to huddle anyways sooo.

 

[leslielbk]

13 chicks in a baby pool is going to get crowded fast, too, wherever you put it. Last year I got 4 chicks and kept them in a dog crate in the living room for 3-4(?) weeks, until the little screeching one drove me to madness (she never lost that, lol) This Wed. I got 19 chicks, and put them in a "dog exercise pen" - a ridiculous thing no one's dog could exercise in. The cool thing is you can configure the panels any way you want, and it's 8 square feet. I'm expanding my coop, and if it'd stop raining for two damn seconds I could get started. I figure I've got 2-3 weeks tops until they're too big for the pen. So if your coop isn't ready, you could use one of these:
View attachment 1405834

 

[Blooie]

A dog x-pen is what I used for my outdoor brooder. Love that old thing! I did use my large for my show dogs, simply because at the venues I could set it up easily outdoors, walk my dogs out and put them in it, tell them to “potty”, then bring the dogs back in. I also used it as a puppy whelping area so babies could socialize well with household activities yet be safely confined. But to use one full time for most dogs, um, nope!

A skirt of hardware cloth around the bottom to keep chicks from squirting out, a couple of portal doors to facilitate integration, and they are absolutely the perfect brooder!!! In fact, as our 4th batch of chicks went out to live at a couple of days old, I remarked to my hubby that the manufacturers had missed marketing to a huge consumer group by relegating these things to one use!

 

[blackdog043]

I used an x-pen and a 24 x 36 two door dog crate hooked together, for my coop brooder, with the MHP. When I was ready to integrate at 4 weeks, I made a cardboard panel with panic doors for the chicks.

 

[leslielbk]

What a great setup! I got my pen used, for $17. Zip-tied 24" high chicken wire around, put down a shower curtain and clothespinned that up around the outside to contain the mess...not that they make any
I put down giant commercial garbage bags, layered on top of one another so I can slip the top dirty one out and put down fresh bedding. I'm using pellet bedding this time, and it's pretty amazing stuff. Kitty litter scoop picks up what is currently tiny poo, but that'll change...

 

[Blooie]

I just skip all that mess...too much work for me. This is my set up.

 

[leslielbk]

Where are they? It's hard to tell from the photos, but mine are in my living room! I'm expanding the coop, which is currently lifted off the concrete, sitting on moving dollies waiting for the rain to stop. Hopefully that'll happen before they're ready to lay lol

 

[Blooie]

If you’re asking me, I brood mine outdoors in the run.