HELP! Ordering new chicks

[louisebarnhill]

I am ordering 3 new chicks on line to add to my group. Backstory....I have a coop that is built for 18 to 24 hens....I currently have 4 and plan to add 3 babys. I have 4 one yr olds...3 wyandottes and 1 barred rock....no roosters....my new babys are females. 3 Spotted Sussex. The online site has me so confused. They will be in my heated shop (65 to 70 degrees) and they will be a few days old and vaccinated....I understand the feeding procedure...and the water rules...but the heat lamp situation is confusing. A bulb for the first few weeks then an infared system after that and decreasing heat temps from 100 down over three weeks...to the 80's....I was hoping to put them in their enclosure with a 75 watt bulb drop light and moniter the temp with a thermometer around 90 with a good cool down zone. Is it more difficult than that....I'm a bit nervous now. I bought my first four at 9 wks and did not have to do anything special. Im wondering if I should go the same route but I wanted to tame the three news ones more so than my nine weekers were and are. Plus I dont want to just throw 3 new 9 weekers in with the grown girls....My plan was to intriduce the babies at about 4 weeks to my very docile barred rock and let them join the others after a few days....Really need advice...

 

[Bekahh]

Start at 95 F° and reduce it by 5 every week once they are 5 to 6 weeks start weaning them from the heat lamp but still keep it above 65. DO NOT introduce them at 4 weeks no matter how sweet the older flock is it is too risky as chickens are very pecking order based and any new additions are seen as competition and the older flock will often kill or injure babies i would recommend introducing them between 6 and 8 weeks

 

[007Sean]

When you do decide to introduce them you might want to consider the 'look but don't touch' approach. This means putting them in the same enclosure but partitioned off from the rest of the flock for a week or two...gives them time to become aquantanted without being pecked on. Then you could introduce them under supervision to see if they will be accepted.

 

[Bekahh]

I used this approach introducing new chickens to my flock although they were all fully grown one of the new additions was a a little bantam with a big attitude along with a 3rd rooster. I have one hen who is pretty large and can be quite the bully and my ducks are very curious and territorial. I kept the new chickens in a large coop with 2 levels 1 where they could go to observe and be observed and the other level the other chickens couldnt see in i kept them like this for about a month but when i finally did let them out there was a little issue with the boys but nobody got hurt and they are all buds now

 

[Chickens4Life101]

We never changed the heating. We got an EcoGlow heat lamp and it worked great! It was sort of like a box that they could huddle under, but when they got too hot they could walk out. Also, it does not cause any fire hazards, or burn your birds! Once they were about 1ish months old, we raised the heat lamp a little higher, and it only took 5 seconds. If you buy it, you'll understand. I totally recommend it because it is super efficient!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Do you have electricity/can you run electricity to the coop? And if yes, what are your average day and night temps right now? Your coop sounds very roomy so you should have plenty of space to brood inside the coop as long as you have power out there. Just to make sure though, how large is the coop and run space in sq ft?

The benefits to brooding outdoors are it lets the chicks acclimate to the outdoor temps and to the older chickens much more quickly and it's easier to integrate them younger as opposed to older, because their size makes it easier to set up chick only areas. I brooded in the run - this is my set up - but you'll find different folks have different variations of this depending on how they have their space set up.

 

[Bekahh]

Lol i forgot to say keep one end warm and one cooler if they huddle together near the lamp turn the heat up a bit if they are panting or look to be staying as far as possible from the heat turn it down

 

[louisebarnhill]

I am ordering 3 new chicks on line to add to my group. Backstory....I have a coop that is built for 18 to 24 hens....I currently have 4 and plan to add 3 babys. I have 4 one yr olds...3 wyandottes and 1 barred rock....no roosters....my new babys are females. 3 Spotted Sussex. The online site has me so confused. They will be in my heated shop (65 to 70 degrees) and they will be a few days old and vaccinated....I understand the feeding procedure...and the water rules...but the heat lamp situation is confusing. A bulb for the first few weeks then an infared system after that and decreasing heat temps from 100 down over three weeks...to the 80's....I was hoping to put them in their enclosure with a 75 watt bulb drop light and moniter the temp with a thermometer around 90 with a good cool down zone. Is it more difficult than that....I'm a bit nervous now. I bought my first four at 9 wks and did not have to do anything special. Im wondering if I should go the same route but I wanted to tame the three news ones more so than my nine weekers were and are. Plus I dont want to just throw 3 new 9 weekers in with the grown girls....My plan was to intriduce the babies at about 4 weeks to my very docile barred rock and let them join the others after a few days....Really need advice...

Start at 95 F° and reduce it by 5 every week once they are 5 to 6 weeks start weaning them from the heat lamp but still keep it above 65. DO NOT introduce them at 4 weeks no matter how sweet the older flock is it is too risky as chickens are very pecking order based and any new additions are seen as competition and the older flock will often kill or injure babies i would recommend introducing them between 6 and 8 weeks

Start at 95 F° and reduce it by 5 every week once they are 5 to 6 weeks start weaning them from the heat lamp but still keep it above 65. DO NOT introduce them at 4 weeks no matter how sweet the older flock is it is too risky as chickens are very pecking order based and any new additions are seen as competition and the older flock will often kill or injure babies i would recommend introducing them between 6 and 8 weeks

When you do decide to introduce them you might want to consider the 'look but don't touch' approach. This means putting them in the same enclosure but partitioned off from the rest of the flock for a week or two...gives them time to become aquantanted without being pecked on. Then you could introduce them under supervision to see if they will be accepted.

Not sure how to reply to all since it seems my rteply button is not working. Thanks for the great ideas...I feel more prepared now.

 

[louisebarnhill]

I am going to wait to order them until the outdoor temp is warmer...we are in Kentucky. I have enough room for a separate encloser for the chicks so they can be protected but still see the big girls and vice versa. I do have electric so I will use the special baby chicken light mentioned by one responder...And the split coop and yard with obstacles looks great. My inside dimensions are 8x8 with a built in 4 nest box and my covered attatched yard is 8x8 but I do not plan to add anymore hens. 7 total. I think I have plenty of room as the builder said 18 to 24 chickens....But it hardly seems big enough to me for that many and they do free range all day. Thank you all for being a great support and my immediate go to place for questions. My husband says I overthink everything but I want them to be comfortable and for no one to get bullied.