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

[llombardo]

My ducks must be spoiled.i took them all out a couple days ago, it was about 55ish. Two of the ducks actually shivered. Backin they went. The chicks were fine.

 

[MROO]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958

There is no reason to keep chicks in a brooder to 6 weeks of age. They won't stay there unless forced to do so anyway. Most will be fully feathered by 4 weeks and not need any supplemental heat.

Mine are raised outside after a couple of days like @Blooie does. Their brooder area is inside the main coop and they have access to the barn alley (the chickens' indoor run) from the first day they are outside.

This is the brooder space in the coop. These are the 2017 chicks. They had a MHP cave since I didn't have a broody hen (best laid plans of mice and Bruce gone awry).
View attachment 1317484

This picture is from 2015, Zorra was broody and raised these girls I got from Meyer. I think they are about 1 week old here. Zorra is one of the twelve 2012 girls, my first chickens. They were raised indoors for 3.5 weeks in a bathtub with a heat lamp. They were pretty traumatized when they were taken out and put in the 10'x12' stall converted to a coop. Hung out in a pile in the corner. Chicks raised outside in the coop and run do not get traumatized like that, everything is "as it has always been", they slowly expand their "play" area and learn to be chickens either with help from a foster mother or on their own.

View attachment 1317481

OhMaGosh! Your in-coop brooder box pic just triggered a project! I have an old run-door that's been laying around my sister's farm for years. When I told him we were converting his cousins' playhouse to a chicken coop, my nephew pulled the "treasure" out of his "what-do-I-do-with-it-now" pile at the farm. You know the kind of stash, I'm sure - the stuff that you don't really need anymore, but is still sturdy enough to use for some future, as-of-yet unknown project. Well, that old door is about to get a new lease on life - as the top of an into-the-coop transition box. It's even already got hinges on it. I LIKE that type of project - cheap, easy and ready-to-go!
Thanks!

 

[bruceha2000]

You know the kind of stash, I'm sure - the stuff that you don't really need anymore, but is still sturdy enough to use for some future, as-of-yet unknown project.

All too well!

 

[ScottKelly1974]

I stop using heat when the chicks can make their own heat. So far that has been about two weeks old. I put them outside on hot days. When my hen incubated the eggs, I had her inside on the final weekend so I can monitor the process and take note of the hatch. After the first week, I put the entire brood and nest box outside. The baby chicks ran about the cage regardless of the daily temperatures. If they needed heat, they would stick close to the hen.

I would get them outside as early as possible. This way they will have the room to run and get used to the outside. As for heat, I would make sure the sleeping area is protected from the cold. As they get bigger, you can remove the heat allowing them to acclimate.

 

[blackdog043]

Your in-coop brooder box pic just triggered a project!

I did my coop brooder with a dog xpen and crate. It's easier to integrate when their raised with the big girls. I made a panic panel out of cardboard, so they duck into their own space, if needed. I copied @azygous on this method and it's working great! Their 4 and 4 1/2 weeks old, I used the mama heat pad, which they don't use anymore, so I took it out.

 

[Bri916]

We let mine out during the day in a fenced in yard, and they slept inside at night. Watch out for hawks during the day though. Maybe put wire mesh over them to protect them from predators. I am in no way an expert, but as long as they are locked up good at night and have heat, they should be ok. Hope it works out!

 

[Devonne Short]

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!

 

[Devonne Short]

My got so big they moved out of brooder two weeks made pool brooder and then moved them in garage in coop now they are 7 weeks and let them out in the day in coop at night!

 

[Chickening101]

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 had that same issue. I just got two huge cardboard boxes, cut a chicken size hole on both of them so there's a little doorway, then ducktaped them together. A Duplex brooder LOL. It worked well

 

[junkman56]

I have 7 chicks coming around April 9th, I plan on putting them in a brooder inside my garage for the first 4 or 5 weeks, then take them out to the coop that I put a fence inside to divide them from the older ladies, and slowly introduce them to each other.