First time chick momma in AL

[swampfox440]

Hi, welcome to BYC! pleased to meet you and thanks for joining us.

 

[janiedoe]

  Welcome to BYC!

 

[007Sean]

Howdy, and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[chrissynemetz]

Welcome to BYC! It's nice to meet you! Please make yourself at home here!

 

[Grammy60]

Hello and welcome to BYC So happy you have joined our flock.

 

[Kellywhowho]

Glad to meet you, Kelly. Here is an article from a very experienced member, Blooie, about brooding chicks in the coop from the get-go. Your chicks are just about 4 weeks old, so in addition to the predator proof issue that everybody above is raising, you still need to think about temperatures for them. They need to be able to get cool enough if it's too hot for them, and in the night time, they will need more warmth than 70 degrees.

Why did you want to move them out so early?

Here is a handy chart for temperature requirements for chicks, though they will want options for cooler areas:
View attachment 3213360

Hi. Thanks for the chart. I appreciate the concern, they’ve become pretty special to us. They are on my covered front porch and protected from sun and rain. The dog cage is metal, the bars are strong and the slats are close. The chicken wire is on the inside. I feel that it is predator proof. My only concern is the night temps. I only want them outside because they have more room in the cage and I am pretty nervous about the heat lamp causing a fire when nobody is home to monitor it. Moving them in at night is an option but we literally have to crawl into the cage to wrangle them. It would just be easier to leave them.

 

[DobieLover]

The chicken wire is on the inside. I feel that it is predator proof.

It isn't.
Mice, rats, snakes & weasels can get easily get through the chicken wire and into the crate.
Raccoons can reach through the wire and grab the chicks.
Are the coop and run built and ready? If so, I'd move them out there. At their age and in your climate they would likely be just fine without supplemental heat. Just a huddle box for them to get in at night.
I have two 3-week old chicks out in the coop with their mother and they are not going under her any longer at night. They are just sleeping next to her. I'm in NY.

 

[Kenneth Zweerink]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens. The Best of Luck with your Chicks! And a Big Hello from Eastern Nebraska.

 

[FunClucks]

Hi. Thanks for the chart. I appreciate the concern, they’ve become pretty special to us. They are on my covered front porch and protected from sun and rain. The dog cage is metal, the bars are strong and the slats are close. The chicken wire is on the inside. I feel that it is predator proof. My only concern is the night temps. I only want them outside because they have more room in the cage and I am pretty nervous about the heat lamp causing a fire when nobody is home to monitor it. Moving them in at night is an option but we literally have to crawl into the cage to wrangle them. It would just be easier to leave them.

Chicken wire is good for nothing but keeping chickens contained. Most predators can go straight through it. What I'd recommend is covering that dog crate with 1/2" hardware cloth (19 gauge wire). You'd have to have a bear or something to get through that over your dog crate, it protects from almost all predators. If you worry about the top, what I did was get some house wrap (very puncture proof) or feed bags (similar), and zip tie them to the outside of the top of the dog crate. That gives shade and minimal protection from rain. In my case, I use the dog crate as a brooder/isolation pen inside my covered run, so I'm protecting chickens inside from poop of those who roost on top.

You don't want to wake up one morning and find a racoon has reached inside and squished all your chicks to death. They take off and eat the heads, it's pretty awful. I have a lot of racoons around where I'm at.

Use metal zip ties if you want to make sure the hardware cloth isn't going anywhere. PLastic zip ties are probably ok short term but they'll degrade over time in weather or sun. I used plastic zip ties for the house wrap.

Good luck with your new chicken journey!!!

Edit: I'm assuming you have a standard all-wire mesh dog crate with roughly 1" space between the wires. The kind of crate that has a removable plastic tray in the bottom. If you have some other type of dog crate, it may have different vulnerabilities and benefits. Also I would use a carabiner to keep the doors shut, because racoons can work those lift and slide latches easily. But carabiners foil them. I went a step further and used Triact-Lock carabiners. Cause if a racoon gets my chickens, it's not going to be because they opened the latch.

Dog crate I'm talking about: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/everyyay-1-door-folding-dog-crate

 

[Sammi_0411]

Hey from the UK! Welcome to BYC it's lovely to have you here lots of useful knowledge and advice on here and everyone trys to assist with any questions or queries.
XxSamXx