Fall chicks in Montana

[LtDanFan]

Now that we are moving back in to the house, day trips outside for the babies are feasible. That’s a great idea. I work overnights (8p-8a) and my partner works swing (noon-whenever the last plane leaves). I’m not sure about a broody as i think there is one but shes’ young and i dont want to put baby lives at risk due to cold. We are working at getting supplemental heat to the coop and re-doing the coup so its all up in the air.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Now that we are moving back in to the house, day trips outside for the babies are feasible. That’s a great idea. I work overnights (8p-8a) and my partner works swing (noon-whenever the last plane leaves). I’m not sure about a broody as i think there is one but shes’ young and i dont want to put baby lives at risk due to cold. We are working at getting supplemental heat to the coop and re-doing the coup so its all up in the air.

I just mentioned our broody that I watched her during winter broods--i have a thread about her bc she wouldn't break.
They won't take older chicks.
I only have heat on the littles. The big girls are just in a windblocked run/coop.
Good luck

 

[LtDanFan]

Could you please post a photo of a 10-week-old chick with baby fluff. That sounds strange.

Maybe it’s more just the grow out that is throwing me off. They just look fluffier than i recall the last batch at this age.
Either way, they are too big for the small brooder and need to be moved to a bigger one or outside but i am afraid to put them out in the cold “cold turkey”, no pun intended.
They have been in the garage with a heat lamp, so maybe the first thing i should do is turn off the heat lamp and leave them in the garage in their brooder to see how they will do? I just think that integrating them into the larger flock AND asking them to make their way into a coop themselves to stay safe and warm would be a bit much. We’ve had raccoons so they NEED to be able/comfortable going into the coop with the adults at night but the adults are avoiding the biggest coop since that’s the one the raccoon was in…. Or we have to collect them every night…which may be challenging.
We have two coops, but our coops are small pre-fab coops not very roomy. My partner is working on building a larger nearly walk in coop that’s sectioned off, to give the impression of 2 coops but maintain a smaller footprint so they have more yard space but we are just moving back in after a house fire and there’s a lot that’s delaying that. I just want to make sure the babies are comfortable through the winter.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They have been in the garage with a heat lamp, so maybe the first thing i should do is turn off the heat lamp and leave them in the garage in their brooder to see how they will do?

A good idea.

I just think that integrating them into the larger flock AND asking them to make their way into a coop themselves to stay safe and warm would be a bit much.

Have you integrated before so you know what to expect? You generally need a lot more room to integrate than once they are integrated. It doesn't sound like you have a lot of extra room. Integration concerns me a lot more than your cold weather.

Are you using both coops? Can you use one for the adults and the other for the chicks?

 

[LtDanFan]

A good idea.


Have you integrated before so you know what to expect? You generally need a lot more room to integrate than once they are integrated. It doesn't sound like you have a lot of extra room. Integration concerns me a lot more than your cold weather.

Are you using both coops? Can you use one for the adults and the other for the chicks?

Yes, i have integrated before, i set up a barrier around the smaller coop to keep them separate for a few weeks, then opened it up to provide a place that was too small for the adults to get into but the babies still could access, then took away the fence. Took several weeks to do it this way. At the time I also had a young but good rooster who acted as peacekeeper and protected the pullets coming into the flock. He has since died.
Both coops are being used but since the raccoon attacks, the flock has been reluctant to go into the larger coop except to lay. When roosting at night, they will often end up on top of the run or large coop or cram themselves into the smaller coop. i am afraid if all they have is the large coop to go into at night, they may not want to go in. It’s not the room i am worried about, it’s making sure they are old enough to survive outside in sub freezing weather.

 

[Debbie292d]

Yes, i have integrated before, i set up a barrier around the smaller coop to keep them separate for a few weeks, then opened it up to provide a place that was too small for the adults to get into but the babies still could access, then took away the fence. Took several weeks to do it this way. At the time I also had a young but good rooster who acted as peacekeeper and protected the pullets coming into the flock. He has since died.
Both coops are being used but since the raccoon attacks, the flock has been reluctant to go into the larger coop except to lay. When roosting at night, they will often end up on top of the run or large coop or cram themselves into the smaller coop. i am afraid if all they have is the large coop to go into at night, they may not want to go in. It’s not the room i am worried about, it’s making sure they are old enough to survive outside in sub freezing weather.

What we do is just grow them out. Hubby made us pens we found on Wayfair, reinforced them with 1/2" hardware cloth, and a doghouse, shed, dogbox at one end for their "coop." (There are three of them.) In there, we put a Cozy Coop radiant heater on a thermal cube, so it shuts off when it reaches 45°F and turns on when it drops to 35°F, keeping their water bottle inside from freezing. They're only 200 watts. We spread horse bedding pellets on the floor.

Right now have seven-week-old silkie chicks that have been out in one since they were four weeks old. We're in Wisconsin too, so you know the temps they've been in. They act like it's spring out there, flitting around and having a good ole' time. Silly birds!

 

[LtDanFan]

I bet my david could do something similar. We talked about that too. Setting up a baby box in the new coop he is building, last time i set up a doggie exercise pen around the entrance to the small coop and they lived in that for a bit but with the recent raccoon invasion AND the suddenly freezing temps, im nervous. I just moved them to a bigger trough-brooder in the garage from their smaller brooder cause they are getting so big and there are so many of them. Last time i think i only had like 12 or so but this time, i had more eggs hatch out than i expected so i have 22.