Has anyone started chicks in 'Main Coop' instead of brooder?

[blueheaven]

I had my chicks in the house for two weeks this coming Tuesday. I took them out yesterday for the first time and they loved it.

So I took them out today and while we had to leave for an hour, I left them in the coop locked up. They love it. So much bigger than their brooder.

I did take the heat lamp out - but temps have been 60-70 and nice. Getting down to 45-50 at night, but with the lamp...do you think they will be ok? I do have a window that I can check on them.

Did not think I would take them out for another 2 weeks, but they seem so happy!

Also - what about blocking the nesting boxes so they cannot go in until laying time? There is no bedding in there, they did jump in but did not hang out too long in the boxes.

 

[mmtillman]

Yes...our chicks outgrew the brooder box FAST ..so we built this temparory area for them as a brooder...it worked great and we tore it down last week and now they have full access to the coop at 4 weeks. Hope this helps you? Good luck with your chicks!!

 

[mmtillman]

Yes..we blocked the nest boxes off ...so it wouldnt temp them to roost in them. Will keep them covered till it is time for them to lay.

 

[Stonerowfarm]

Why block off the nesting boxes? Is this to teach them to roost where they are supposed to? or is there another reason.

My babies are in a portion of the adult coop, separated from them but they have access to the last three nesting boxes. While they don't usually stay in them a lot, they do go in and out of them all the time.

Should I block them off until they are older?

 

[chicky gal1]

i don't have mine blocked off either. love to here the answer to this. I'm sure someone on here will know.

blueheaven, I did the same thing. I couldn't stand the smell in my house coming up from the garage anymore

they are soooo happy. right now they only stay in half of the coop (thier choice) but they love the freedom!

 

[GaDawg]

blueheaven, if you have a heat lamp on them at night they should do fine. you might want to get a thermometer to make sure of the temp.

if your chicks learn to roost in the nest boxes at night it is very hard to break the habit. then you will have poop in the boxes(they poop at night or early in the morn.) when they go to lay and you will get poopy eggs. their roosts should be higher than the nest box also. I learned the hard way, best to block off till they start laying...

 

[lunkerchicken]

I'm in MA and will probably try to keep them inside as long as I can unless we have a warmer stretch. Although, you do give me some ideas - I could just run the brooder lamp out in the main coop - hmmm.

 

[Jolyn]

With my ten hens i wish i had blocked off the nest boxes in the beginging. They had started sleeping in them and pooping too. They would not get on the roosts to begin with. So then we did block them off and they started roosting. Now they just brood and lay in the boxes. It's much cleaner....no poo poo!!!

 

[blueheaven]

i do not have any material in the nest boxes yet, so they just check in there to see what is going on and peck at a few things.

my roosts are up high (second level) they have to climb the chix ladder to get up there...so i don't see them doing that anytime in the near future. i did put a small tree branch in the coop today for them to roost on. no one has tried it yet.

i had one in the brooder box and they loved it. so i put one in the run - low to the ground like the on in the coop...but they did not use it today either.

will cover next boxes if i see them roosting on them. that would be a 'hard habit to break!"