Help! Need to move 6 week old chicks

[Annabellaa]

I have taken on raising chicks and although I thought I knew what I was getting into, boy was I wrong! My chicks are 6 weeks old and up until now the weather has been fairly nice (located in canada). But the weather is about to start dropping and my 5 chicks have completely outgrown all of the different stages of indoor containers and coops I have made for them. I have an insulated coop for outdoors but I am worried they will not be able to survive the negative temperatures coming up. They seem to be fully feathered and quite large. I have one remaining hen from my old flock and I do not want to spring all 5 of them on her at once so I am putting them in a coop with her but with some fencing between them. Will they be warm enough to survive temperatures as low as -3 at night? Should I give them a few more weeks, or will it be too cold at that point? I really don’t want to sell them but if I am putting them in danger I will have to. Please, any advice will help!!

 

[FC16]

They are laying on bedding at night currently. They climb on everything but their roost haha. My hope is that eventually with my senior hen they will help keep her warm too but I don’t want to force it too soon and risk her being hurt. Thank you! I appreciate the help I’m flying blind

Yeah with lots of bedding they will all huddle together and be warm enough I probably wouldn’t put a fully grown hen in with the chicks just yet, as she would probably attack them. The fact that they can see each other though is really good so they can get used to each other. But every chicken is different obviously, I have a hen who doesn’t mind chicks at all (even when she isn’t broody). How does she react to them when she sees them through the fence? I have another hen who tries to peck the chicks through the fence so I’d never mix them until they’re older.
If she’s on her own though she might appreciate the company as chickens like to be around other chickens. You’ve just got to try read the signals really I found wishing you the best of luck

 

[Annabellaa]

Yeah with lots of bedding they will all huddle together and be warm enough I probably wouldn’t put a fully grown hen in with the chicks just yet, as she would probably attack them. The fact that they can see each other though is really good so they can get used to each other. But every chicken is different obviously, I have a hen who doesn’t mind chicks at all (even when she isn’t broody). How does she react to them when she sees them through the fence? I have another hen who tries to peck the chicks through the fence so I’d never mix them until they’re older.
If she’s on her own though she might appreciate the company as chickens like to be around other chickens. You’ve just got to try read the signals really I found wishing you the best of luck

She doesn’t seem to happy with their presence to be fair lol. She attempts to peck through the fence quite a bit. They are quite large now almost her size so I’m worried there will be a war when I fully allow them to integrate. My other worry is I got my senior hen as an adult so her beak was trimmed when I got her and quite dull whereas the chicks are so sharp they hurt when they peck me, I’m worried they will do damage to her 5vs1

 

[Annabellaa]

Why not just add a heat plate or lamp in with them? I don’t even expect my grown chickens and roosters to handle that low of temp. I have seen to many feet frozen to different objects at 20degrees Fahrenheit. (Not my birds but neighbors) I always give a heat source when it is freezing temps. My chickens and roosters won’t even come out of their coops when is cold cold or lots of snow on the ground. (Some say I’m ridiculous or they can handle it or my birds are spoiled) I’m ok with that. No one wants to be cold cold so I do what I can to at least make it tolerable for them. At that young I would definitely put a heat source for them especially if you are moving them from indoors to out as it’s still going to be a shock on them. Just my opinion

I really wish I could add a heat source I love the idea of having one but unfortunately it just isn’t in the cards for me. I am on a farm and the spot (the only place I’m able to put the coop) that I am keeping them is on the far side of our 4 barns. We lose power all the time and it usually takes quite a while for us to get it back considering we are pretty far out in the country. The generators we have are already allocated to the house and single barn on the other side of the property. I am worried that we will have a storm and will loose power for long enough that it will shock them more, a sudden drop in temperature that quickly. I have also been told they are a fire hazard and the coop is close enough to a large wooden barn that stores hundreds of straw bales it is just too much of a risk unfortunately. And I do not have the money at the moment to rebuild a coop using metal or purchase another generator. Worst comes to worst I will have to sell them as I do not want to harm them but that is my last resort

 

[Annabellaa]

Oh hun I understand I to live in the country and we lose power all the time as well so I totally understand that It’s tough having babies right at winter (I have 5 Iil ones right now) lol they are in the house 3 in a brooder and 2 with mom in a sectioned off area in the same room. Momma hates all other babies but her own she hatched (not even her own lol she hatched my other chickens babies) but to her they are hers. Why I plan on moving I hate winter I am looking at states where there is none to very little winter. Just NO SNOW! Never want to see this crap again
I hope you find a way to keep them even your old gal needs the friends and snuggle buddies. Do you think you could put them in the first barn maybe? This is a tough one on you I’m sure I wish you the best of luck Be thinking and sending positive thoughts your way

I happened upon having chicks completely by accident as well. I got a friend of mine to order birds for me on her order and wasn’t told I was getting chicks. Everyday it’s something new with these these demons but they are so cute and I love them I just want to give them a good life but winters in northern Ontario are so rough. I haven’t taken them out of my garage coop yet I’m way too scared lol! I have a thermometer that connects to my phone in both coops and I watch it all night. I’m one more snow storm away from letting them all sleep in my bed at night lol. It would definitely be nice to never have to deal with the snow again, a girl can dream anyways. I worry so much about my order girl being alone as well. I haven’t tried getting the coop the barn yet but I’m thinking that may be a saving grace as well. It’s just so massive and getting the tractor in the door is a real pain in the butt. If only I knew how much these little dinosaurs would take over my life (not mad about it tho lol)

 

[Uwish]

I happened upon having chicks completely by accident as well. I got a friend of mine to order birds for me on her order and wasn’t told I was getting chicks. Everyday it’s something new with these these demons but they are so cute and I love them I just want to give them a good life but winters in northern Ontario are so rough. I haven’t taken them out of my garage coop yet I’m way too scared lol! I have a thermometer that connects to my phone in both coops and I watch it all night. I’m one more snow storm away from letting them all sleep in my bed at night lol. It would definitely be nice to never have to deal with the snow again, a girl can dream anyways. I worry so much about my order girl being alone as well. I haven’t tried getting the coop the barn yet but I’m thinking that may be a saving grace as well. It’s just so massive and getting the tractor in the door is a real pain in the butt. If only I knew how much these little dinosaurs would take over my life (not mad about it tho lol)

I get it I actually have 1 chicken that is a house chicken and often I wake up and she is sleeping in bed with me under the blanket snuggled up she has only pooped in the bed 1 time. There was a couple days last winter it was bad bad and you guessed it I brought everyone inside for a few nights. That includes 2 ducks lol lucky I have hard wood floors in my home and put down tons of paper in the spare bed room sectioned it off and that’s where everyone stayed lol yep I had some clean up but it’s just cleaning no biggie I had birds that lived I don’t think they would have otherwise. My coop isn’t insulated (I was planning on being moved by now)
Maybe you wouldn’t have to move the whole coop in the barn. Since you only have your 1 old gal and the younger ones maybe you could just section off part with chicken wire or wood panels. (I have had to get very creative a few times. Sounds like maybe your old gal is in more need then the younger ones since she is alone.

 

[cavemanrich]

At -3C it is not that cold yet. I would put all the chicks at one time into your coop. Observe, and see the interaction of your senior hen. You can use a separator if needed. Best to do the introduction inside the run area. You can see the interaction during daytime. Make sure that you have multiple feed stations,,, at least initially. A dish/bowl in a few spots works fine. Also water in a few separate spots. Any container will work,, and offer it only during daytime. Chickens do not need feed , or water during night-time.
In another 2 weeks, they will generally be completely feathered out. (8 weeks)
In this 2 week time period, they will hardy up to the current conditions. (Autumn cool) This stimulates feather, and down growth/development.
Offer them plenty of high protein feed. Protein is needed for good feather growth. You can add additional protein to their diet with some added cat food. Dry, or canned works same. I prefer to offer dry,,,,,, well, the chickens help themselves when they can.. View Avatar..

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[FC16]

At -3°C I really wouldn’t worry at all, are they roosting or laying on bedding at night? Either way you have 5 which is good so they can huddle in close. If they’re near enough fully feathered as well they should be fine I think.

 

[Annabellaa]

Brand ,,,, no difference. Cat food is higher in protein than dog food. You just add a small amount, and their protein intake improves well.
Here is a tip. Too much protein in a chickens diet,,,, (regardless where it came from, even eating insects) the signs are;; Runnier stools, and smellier as well. No harm to chickens. That would only indicate to decrease the amount slightly. Eventually when all is normal, feed your chickens 18% protein, and things should be good. Many layer feeds are 16% protein. That is the minimum needed for egg production. Protein is an expensive ingredient in feed, so that is why many suppliers try to keep it at minimum.
There are many other High Protein feeds out there available. Some are for more specific breeds like Game Fowl. I'm only including this ,,,, so peeps don't rush to correct me immediately.

That’s awesome thank you so much!

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

That is so kind thank you so much! I ended up just biting the bullet and letting them work it out, they sleep on separate sides of the coop just like u said they would. And after some pretty gnarly disagreements they seem to tolerate each other! My older girl seems to have become the top hen, the younger ones seem to stay out of her way, which is much better than all 5 of them ganging up on her. All in all they seem to be getting along decently well! A peck here and there but for the most part they don’t rlly even pay attention to each other. My big worry is tonight though…at -15 and sleeping on the other side of the coop I’m worried she may not make it through the night. The temp dropped so suddenly and they really do refuse to sleep anywhere near each other. I do not have any heaters in my coop aside from a small pad that keeps the water from freezing. I am worried that something will happen tonight is there anything at all I can do to avoid that at the last minute?

Very glad it worked out and they had their little pecking order fight. It is a lot like high-school, the top girls, the mean girls, it can feel like survival, as though they will kill you if they can, but really it comes to a head, then it comes into a stable order.

Make sure there is plenty of food and water, resources is a big reason to fight. If they think there is not enough to go around they will want to hoard it. That is a good reason to fight.