First time brooding in coop - size questions

[jolenesdad]

Hi all.

I’ve got a 60sf coop and 8 chickens. The chickens are let out at 7am and free range until sundown when they return to the coop. They stay 99% of the time within a 1/2 acre of the coop sharing a paddock with two horses.

There are currently 4 14-16 months old, 4 5-6 month old hens. They’re all very easy going, I rehomed two hens that were bullies after a fairly long integration period.

I’ve got 7 chicks coming in two weeks and this is the first time I am going to brood in the coop with a Brinsea Eco Glow. Because of the doorway entrance I’m having trouble figuring out how much space I’ll actually need.

For those who have brooded INSIDE the coop....when does integration happen typically? Everyone says integration becomes easier.... but, is it earlier, too?? I’m trying to plan if I need more or less than 2 feet per chick. I personally was expecting/hoping to integrate by about 8 weeks with this setup so I surely don’t need 2+ feet per bird in the coop brooder.

I’m planning on doing a brooder for 4-5 weeks then just a separated coop for a couple weeks. I was also hoping to let the babies out during the day around 6 weeks since they free range, hoping to have them integrated by 8 weeks with no separate wall in the coop at that point.

Any thoughts? Thank you!

 

[Tsheaby]

I haven’t done what you’re planning to do specifically, but I did have to integrate young babes in with older girls recently... it took about 3 weeks to fully integrate to eliminate my concern the babies would be hurt.

From what I understand is that a hen might even take the young babies in as her own, but I wouldn’t bank on that.

My experience introducing them, was I first had the babies separated by having them in their own starter coop inside the run with the big girls for about a week (at this point they were 6 weeks old) so the big girls could investigate without hurting them. On week two, I put a dog fence/gate (that you can make into a circle) outside in the grass most the day so they could go on “free range” field trips but still have them safe. A couple times that week i let the little ones out and the big girls would try and peck the little ones.... pecking order was being established but the babies were still pretty small comparatively and i didn’t want them getting hurt. Week 3, I still had them separated some of the day, but would supervise them when put all together and put a litter box top in the area (has a little doorway) so they could hide by themselves if they needed to and by the end of week 3, the littles ones were much bigger (9 weeks old) and following the big girls around at a distance, and eventually went into the big girls coop by themselves.

Hope that helps! You’ll find what works for you, but giving it plenty of time really helped for us.

 

[rosemarythyme]

For those who have brooded INSIDE the coop....when does integration happen typically? Everyone says integration becomes easier.... but, is it earlier, too?? I’m trying to plan if I need more or less than 2 feet per chick. I personally was expecting/hoping to integrate by about 8 weeks with this setup so I surely don’t need 2+ feet per bird in the coop brooder.

I’m planning on doing a brooder for 4-5 weeks then just a separated coop for a couple weeks. I was also hoping to let the babies out during the day around 6 weeks since they free range, hoping to have them integrated by 8 weeks with no separate wall in the coop at that point

There's no magic number as each flock and set up are different. Play it by ear and progress forward when you see that things are going well with the current step. It can happen as early as 4 weeks, mine took about 6. There's the occasional hiccup where a hen might chase all the chicks off the roost but for the most part they're all in and roosted at sunset.

I planned for about 2 sq ft per chick in the brooder, so I think that number is fine. My brooder was in the run, not the coop (my coop's about same size as yours, but I couldn't fit the brooder inside!). I have integration notes here if you want more details on what the timeline looked like for me.

 

[jolenesdad]

Thank you SO much for the integration notes link! I love your setup, and appreciate you taking the time to comment here. I left a review on your article, I like the idea of making the entry into the brooder accessible to the chicks so that when they're ready to go in and out, they have a secure way to get to the safety of their home base.

Do i worry if they eat the layer feed when they come out and really start freely integrating into the group at about 4-5 weeks hopefully, do I need to have a plan for trying to prevent that from happening, or is a little okay?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you SO much for the integration notes link! I love your setup, and appreciate you taking the time to comment here. I left a review on your article, I like the idea of making the entry into the brooder accessible to the chicks so that when they're ready to go in and out, they have a secure way to get to the safety of their home base.

Do i worry if they eat the layer feed when they come out and really start freely integrating into the group at about 4-5 weeks hopefully, do I need to have a plan for trying to prevent that from happening, or is a little okay?

Thanks! I happened to have both the chicken wire lying around plus a supply of wire shelves that had been left behind in an unfinished greenhouse. They've been useful for various chicken projects. In this case it was a convenient way to create a chick size entrance without having to actually build anything extra.

The way I handled the feed issue was by the time the chicks started venturing out, I switched my hens over to the same food. Both littles and bigs are currently eating an all-flock type crumble, and fermented starter mash (now grower, since they're older.) Oyster shell for hens on the side, and once the chicks got past 6 weeks or so I mixed in some pullet grit with the hens grit so everyone gets what they need.

 

[Shezadandy]

Mine get brooded on the "people" side of the coop- and I've got multiple "windows" at floor level where they can see and visit with the flock through hardware cloth with nobody getting hurt. Course, we do have to watch where we step and be careful opening the door in and out.