How do I send my chicks to the coop?

[gritsar]

Quote:
That's it in a nutshell. Nothing says your chicks have to be brooded inside. They can be brooded in any enclosure that is free from drafts and predator proof, so long as you can (safely) maintain the temperature in the brooder at the temp. the chicks need it to be.
I will never brood chicks inside. The dust is too much and cute as they may be, they are in fact livestock.
ETA: This pic of my outdoor brooder set-up:

The shed is non-insulated, but draft free. We added a draft guard just to be on the safe side.
The heat lamps are secured first by chains and secondly by zip ties. Also, all the cords were zip tied to the PVC to prevent any cords from dangling into the brooder. For the first week we heated the entire shed, but after the first week only the brooder had heat from the heat lamps.

 

[CHIC]

Thats a nifty set up you got there, is it lower maintenance? I am finding that my chicks are very high maintenance, especially now that they are getting bigger, eating, drinking, and pooping more. And what is up with all the dust? What is it? Where does it come from?

 

[crazyhen]

The dust is poultry dust from the chicks plus the wood chips. I found it very sticky. I had to wash the walls, drapes ,windows and carpet when i put out my first batch. Some people are allergic to the dust too. I also had to change out the furnace filter a couple of times before it was free of the dust. Whew! what a job. Now they go out at 2 or 3 weeks with heat and protection. The dust seems to start about then. Gloria Jean

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
When we wanted to clean the brooder, we just loaded the chicks into a rubbermaid tote, picked up the pool and tossed the shavings outside. Refill with clean shavings and put the chicks back.
We have the PVC pipes and pool in storage. I'll be using it again in the spring, hopefully.

As Crazyhen posted, about half the dust is from the chicks themselves, half from the shavings.

 

[ChooksChick]

Lordy, what a mess they make! My 50 in the closet are a month old now, too, and the pin-feather dust is crazy! I sheeted the closet waist-high with giant white sheets over plastic. I use just the sheets to start, and add shavings after we get about a week old.

I won't be sending mine to the coop until 8 weeks or more due to the weather.

They start in an area that is chicken-wired separately from the big birds, under the roost on one side. It's about 2'x8' and is under the poop board, so they have a high area to roost and cruise around.

They will be seamlessly accepted by the big birds after about 3 weeks in the coop, and I can move them out at 5 weeks if I use the flat-panel heater I have in there. The 8 week-olds are in there at night right now, but 2 of them declined and moved up to the roosts on the other side of the coop last night, so I suspect I'll be able to move the babies in soon. They were vaccinated against Coryza at 3 weeks, so I'll wait until it's been at least 2 weeks for that to take hold- we never had it, but a neighbor did, and I won't take chances after what I saw him go through!

I might put them out earlier, depending on the weather if we didn't have that fear looming over us.

 

[farmgirlwanabe]

I live in Nova Scotia and it's November so we're having a lot of cold days now. 1 week ago, the chicks turned 5 weeks old and I couldn't stand the smell and dust anymore so I moved our 4 chicks out to the coop under the nesting boxes in their brooder box which is about 3'w x 2'L x 2 'H. They have a roost bar in it. They will outgrow it by about 8 weeks which will be time to integrate them into the flock anyhow. I have a heat lamp in the coop with the box and the rest of the flock. Luxury for the adults right now. This is working fine for us now but in a month when it starts getting REALLY cold I would have had to think of something different.

Aren't chickens fun?!

 

[Beekissed]

Another good tip is to slowly wean them off the heat lamp when it gets time for them to go it alone. Going from a cozy heat lamp into a cold coop can be a shock to their system. Most folks just place the lamp higher and higher at that time until they are more acclimated to doing without the added heat. Also, they will fledge earlier and better if you harden them off in this manner before putting them in the coop.

 

[bonnylass79]

Gosh, I feel like such a mean chicken mommy for having 2 week old chicks in with the rest of the flock. They were born outside though, so they're pretty savvy when it comes to staying dry and warm. Being in Florida helps too.

 

[Soccer Mom]

Quote:
I'm the same way bonnylass! I think we just brood chicks differently in warm weather states. I'm in Texas and my chicks go outside at 2-3 weeks. They had a heater all day for a week and then just at nights. At 5 weeks I turned the heater off. Mine are now 7 weeks old and doing great. It's 40s and 50s at night.

 

[chixie]

Mine are 7 weeks and they just now went to their coop...It was one of the hardest things to do... I still check on them severaltimes during the day and more at night... I still have one in the house because it has wry neck (doing better... but when gets scared drops its head between his legs)... Mine have a heat lamp still and a dog crate with pine shavings in hay... and so far so good...