Getting them ready for coop

[callmecordelia2]

Thanks for your reply! I never heard of an ecoglow; what's that?

I have a basic infrared lamp. Do you think lamp on at night, off during the day? When would you stop using the lamp?

Thanks.

 

[jmtcmkb]

Quote:
ecoglow is a radiant heat source. You can search it up here or on google. I am not an expert so I dont want to offer you advice on the heat lamp. I am sure someone with experience will chime in. The advice I was given is if they are fully feathered they dont need heat. For me it's been true- mine may not be "fully" feathered at 6 weeks but they look pretty good, just a few fluffy spots on the rear and they are faring well. I would put the heat out with them at least for the evenings and watch their behavour-

Sounds like with a recent power outage you may be on the east coast with similar weather as here in NH, we are having a nice warm spell now is a great time to put them out.

edited to say by warm spell I mean 30*s lows and 60*s highs - gotta love New England

 

[callmecordelia2]

Hi. Yes, that's exactly our weather here right now: 60s during the day, 30s at night. I'm in western Massachusetts. I keep thinking that's too cold to have them out, but on the other hand, it's only going to get colder! So I think I'll give it a try. I change their box in the living room every day but it's still rather"fragrant," and they need more space. I'll make sure to make a cozy spot in the coop with a lamp at night and hopefully they'll get used to it! Thanks again.

 

[Mark & Nique]

Ours have spent the last two nights in the coop, temps in the low 40s. They have been fine! Each morning, they great me with a chorus of cheep, cheep...perhaps chicken talk for 'Enough with the camping trip, we want in!'

 

[callmecordelia2]

That's it! I'm DOING it! I love this forum! You know, I have posted on other forums (not chicken-related but other topics), and hardly ever get a reply. This morning I posted a question here for the first time, and within half an hour I had a series of friendly, helpful replies. I really appreciate it. Thanks, everyone! Jennifer

 

[Mark & Nique]

No need for thanks, Jennifer!

 

[jmtcmkb]

Quote:
awesome good luck and let us know how it goes!

I know I was a wory wart but they are doing great. One monring it was 26* and I went to see them in the morn, they were cold to the touch, but not chirping loudly or huddling, eage to see me and wanting their daily sprout fix ha-ha

 

[callmecordelia2]

This is very encouraging. I am bothered by the smell in the house and the need to change their bedding every day, but mainly, it has bothered me how little space they have. When my kids have been bringing them out each day, they are thrilled to flap their little wings and peck at the small but of remaining grass! So when it warms up just a bit later today, I'll be putting them out, and when my husband comes home from work he's going to do whatever he needs to do to wire the coop for the lamp so that by nightfall they'll have that.

 

[jmtcmkb]

Quote:
Great, I know how hard it is to make the decision, but I am sure you'll be happy and they will be too! I was tired of vacuuming 2-3 times a day, and putting more shavings in and stirring poop to keep the odor managable

now they can poop to their hearts content and the smell just blows in the breeze and not around my spare room DE helps a lot with the smell, at least I saw a difference once I started using it, I think it helps dry it out quickly.

 

[callmecordelia2]

What's DE?