Alrighty...I have an official hatching plan of action for Spring!
I've talked about wanting to get those young chickies out of my house before winter, but at 9 weeks, they just flat aren't old enough or large enough to go out with the big'uns in the coop. PLUS, my older girls are at 22 weeks now, so they are going onto the Layena to prepare them better for laying. Having multiple birds on multiple feed types would be a pain and I'm not so sure how Flock Raiser adds up to using either of the other two products separately. SO...
I found a sweet 5' x 5' outdoor dog kennel with fixed cover top at
Petsmart and set it up in an empty stall in the barn. It's sitting on stall mats for easy clean-up and I added the shavings for bedding. We slid various 2"x4"s in through the slats (not chain link...perfect size to keep chickies in and cats out) to make perches. At one corner, I hung the heat lamp (since we're in the 30s at night). They can scoot closer to or away from the lamp on perches as they need. I added a small dish of grit for them to sample, since they are old enough for treats and things now. I'll be adding a litter box with sand/dirt for them to practice dustbathing in. We brought them down, dipped beaks in the waterer (in case they were suddenly too blind to notice it), and set them loose. They were frozen in place for about 30 seconds! haha They didn't know what to do with all that space!
They have been loving life since and have been all over the perches and making little nests in the bedding! I covered the whole thing with a large mesh wrap (really used for closing off scaffolding on large buildings) for added insulation and to conceal them more from the cats. I don't think the cats have even noticed them yet...after 3 days!!!
Now, I'm set. I'll be able to incubate and hatch in my
Brinsea, have a small and large brooder for the babies to feather out in, and a good sized space for youngsters to grow out in prior to integration! Now we just need to add on to the original outdoor run space...and
maybe, just maybe build another coop...
ETA: For anyone reading our thread who isn't yet a hatcher but may be on the fence... I bought my first chicks at 1 week old. At 22 weeks, I am just getting to a point where I can touch them, but they have to be perched to be calm enough. The hatched chick, on the other hand, can be handled easily and will approach me readily when I am sitting in the above referenced kennel! The difference between the experiences is marked. Hatching is worth it...even for nothing other than ability to handle the birds without causing them stress!