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

[Acre4Me]

How cold is it where you are? Do you already have chickens and/ or a coop?

Mine are 4 weeks. They were inside for 2 weeks and are now in a larger, covered brooder in the garage. 2 weeks indoors was really pushing it for us with 17 chicks. We have to build a coop, but if we had a coop that is where they would be going soon, but it’s still fairly cold at night here). We have a barn building they can be in while we build, but we’ve found evidence of mice and rats (but seems to be an old/past problem that previous owners dealt with) so we are baiting and cleaning the barn while there are no animals of ours in it.

 

[Relleoms]

I moved my 4 week old girls to our existing coop earlier this week. They are in a large wire dog kennel and have a heat plate and a huddle box. The nighttime temps are in the 20’s and daytime in the 40’s. They’re doing great and aren’t destroying my house anymore. But now my cat is bored to death-no more live chickie tv!

 

[Blooie]

Three and four week old outdoor raised Silkies out mingling with the flock.

 

[Blooie]

How cold is it where you are? Do you already have chickens and/ or a coop?

Define "cold"? Mine get a day or so inside to make sure they are eating, drinking, know where to get warm, and aren't suffering shipping or hatching stress, then out they go. Our temps here are still in the twenties, dipping into the teens during spring "chick season". We have high winds and sideways blowing snow. You'll need that coop sooner than you think.

 

[CajunFeatherz]

Oh wow I can't imagine keeping them inside! We have cats and dogs fed on raw food and omg, that would be a nightmare. My dog already got one of my chickens once when she was chilling in the backyard when they ran out. Lucky bird is still alive tho! Thank you blukote!

We are pretty rural so a lot of people here keep tough farm animals and would probably skip a lot of the steps we do. We try to walk a line of having rugged birds with modernized, hyper ethical treatment and while I'm sure inside chickens are totally more common than they used to be, as far as I know it's still pretty much the norm to keep them outside once they're out of the incubation stage. We also try to avoid over imprinting on the birds too, and setting them right outside helps both of us. While it's sweet when one of the chickens wants us all the time, it affects their place in the flock and we have seen it cause stress.

Every flock is different though! You do you! As long as people care for them properly I think lots of methods are awesome and necessary

 

[Acre4Me]

Define "cold"? Mine get a day or so inside to make sure they are eating, drinking, know where to get warm, and aren't suffering shipping or hatching stress, then out they go. Our temps here are still in the twenties, dipping into the teens during spring "chick season". We have high winds and sideways blowing snow. You'll need that coop sooner than you think.

If there was no coop, or one that was poorly constructed then this would be bad in a cold area. Many breeds can withstand very cold temps, but not sideways blowing snow, unless they have a draft free coop to be inside. Assuming if they have chickens already they have a coop or area for them to successfully live. In the warmer regions, they don’t have these extremes to worry about with chicks so predators would be a main issue, along with some basic wind and rain protection. My spouse, who spent some years growing up in SC remembers their 3 sided coop - with no front at all- made with random and old wood and some chicken wire, and they lived in a more rural area. Definitely not climate proof, but it only really needed to provide basic shelter for the chickens and the chicks when they hatched or were purchased. Apparently no predator losses over the years either with only chicken wire!

 

[Blooie]

Definitely! But if a coop or setup isn't habitable or safe for adult chickens, then chicks shouldn't be put in either.

My run (where their brooder pen is placed) is mostly covered in plastic. I don't seal it up because ventilation is critical in winter as well as in summer.

 

[Stephine]

Keep in a brooder? Mine have been flying to the edge for a couple weeks and they now fly in and out at almost 4 weeks..

So no you don't have to because basically they won't stay put..lol

My coop is not ready

Ha! There’s an easy solution to that... mine would have been out of the brooder at 3 days old without a screen cover...

 

[llombardo]

Ha! There’s an easy solution to that... mine would have been out of the brooder at 3 days old without a screen cover...

I did try to put a screen over it. That was an epic fail..

They actually are ok. They hop out and hop back in. Not a huge mess. When they sit on the edge their butts are over the inside, so the poop ends up in the brooder.

 

[MROO]

Ummm... I guess its time to admit it ... My coop is ready. The nighttime temps are fast-approaching 50 and grass is starting to peek up through the bottom of the run. Yet, my little ones are still inside.
I can't help it! I like having them nearby. I like hearing my "peepers" greet me every morning and drowsily talking to me as they settle in for the night. - and I like being able to handle them whenever I want (it makes them more social, right? wink, wink!)
So, it's not that they aren't ready to move along ... it's that I'm not!