Help! Brooder plans

[IdyllwildAcres]

Use the search box above and look for Mama heating pad, the OP lives where it is very cold and broods outside... I am going to use that method in the spring, will still be 30's some nights here. I may have them in the house first 24 hours just to make sure they are eating and drinking and warming up.

Good luck

Gary

 

[lazy gardener]

Okay, I will consider brooding them all in the regular coop from the beginning, but there is one major downside for me. I was counting on having chicks in the house helping my dogs get used to them from the beginning. I suppose I can always take the dogs out to the coop a couple times a day, but obviously it would be easier if the dogs were exposed to seeing and hearing noisy chicks 24/7, from day one!

While brooding the chicks in the house would get your dogs up close and personal with them, the down side is that they just might get close and personal enough to have a snack. It only takes a second for a dog or cat to snap a chick. Having chicks in the house gets very old very quickly. The noise, the dander, and the smell.... with the dander being the most problematic are an issue. IMO, brooding chicks outside will give them lots of advantages over indoor brooding. They will not have to make an adjustment to a new environment. Nor will you need to harden them off to outdoor temps. And they will feather much faster outdoors than they will in your house.