You want opinions? You sure came to the right place. We all have our opinions and boy can they be different.
You are in Wisconsin. It’s too cold this time of the year to just toss those chicks less than a week old into the coop without supplemental heat and expect them to survive. This topic alone is worth you starting another thread. If you want different opinions how to brood them is a topic that really brings out opinions. Some of us brood in the house, some in an attached garage or other outbuilding, and some in the coop itself. Some of us use heat lamps, heating pads, heating plates, emitters, hovers, or something else to provide heat. Some people feel so strongly about their method that they tell you that you don’t love your chicks if you don’t use their method while others are very successful with other methods. I suggest you start another thread on how to brood them in Wisconsin this time of year. Include information on your general location, number of chicks, and what your facilities look like and whether you have electricity to the coop. A photo of the cop might be good. Mention that you have grown chickens.
Another part of this is how long chicks need supplemental heat. It depends on the weather of course, how cold it gets. In my opinion, it also depends on how they are raised. If they are fed a relatively high protein chick starter and not a lot of low protein treats, they feather out faster. If they are exposed to the cold they acclimate and can handle cold better than chicks kept in a tropical environment. A lot depends on where they are kept once outside. If they can get out of the wind yet have decent ventilation they can handle cold better that if they are where wind chill can affect them. Being closed up in an air-tight brooder coop also presents problems. Wind protection down low and ventilation up high are good things. Again you can get different opinions on what is the right age to shut off the heat. Some of us would have the heat off by six weeks of age if not younger in the temperatures you will likely see in the next month or two, some would be horrified if you don’t go a lot longer.
Another huge issue is that grown hens usually will not tolerate a young chick entering their personal space. Some hens will tolerate that more than others but in chicken society it is a huge breach of chicken etiquette for a young chick to do that. The hen will most likely peck that chick to run it away. Some go even further and try to kill the chicks. If you have a broody hen that will adopt the chicks and protect them, then the chicks can be raised with the flock. She’ll also provide warmth. But a hen that is not broody and has not adopted them is a danger to them. You really don’t want to do that with chicks that young even if the temperatures were warm enough that they could survive those.
You will also get a wide variety of opinion on how to integrate those chicks with your flock and at what age. In my opinion how much room you have has a whole lot to do with that. The more room the better, the tighter the space the more the danger. I have a lot of room. None of this 4 square feet in the coop plus 10 square feet in the run stuff, a lot more. I think that makes it a lot easier on me to integrate chicks. My brooder is in the coop and my broody hens raise the chicks with the flock so the chicks are raised as part of the flock but have protection when they are very young. Basic integration is taken care of by the time I let them out of the brooder or the broody hen weans them and leaves them on their own to make their way with the flock. The chicks still have to deal with pecking order issues themselves until they are grown, that’s where extra room comes in really handy. But my adults don’t go out of their way to attack them because they are an accepted part of the flock. If they are not integrated that can and does happen. It can happen even if they are integrated, some hen are just brutes.
I generally open the brooder door and let them mingle with the flock at 5 weeks, I’ve never lost a chick to another adult flock member doing this. If my room were limited this could be a lot more dangerous. If the chicks had not lived with the flock the risk would be much higher. If you brood them away from the flock I strongly suggest you house them at least a week next to the main flock so they can see each other but not attack each other to help with this. There are other tricks that make this go easier that we can tell you. I can’t emphasize enough how important room is to this process. If your room is tight instead of five weeks you may be looking at 4 to 5 months to integrate them and even then it might be a challenge.
The more information you can give us on your situation the better we can tailor our response to your unique situation. How many chickens, young and old. How big in feet are your coop and your run. Photos of how your coop is set up can help a lot. Is your run covered and with side protection so wind and snow doesn’t blow in? Do you consider your run totally predator proof or is it just predator resistant, assuming you have a run?
I’ve not tried to tell you how to do anything, just tried to raise issues that I think you really need to seriously consider. Good luck!
You are in Wisconsin. It’s too cold this time of the year to just toss those chicks less than a week old into the coop without supplemental heat and expect them to survive. This topic alone is worth you starting another thread. If you want different opinions how to brood them is a topic that really brings out opinions. Some of us brood in the house, some in an attached garage or other outbuilding, and some in the coop itself. Some of us use heat lamps, heating pads, heating plates, emitters, hovers, or something else to provide heat. Some people feel so strongly about their method that they tell you that you don’t love your chicks if you don’t use their method while others are very successful with other methods. I suggest you start another thread on how to brood them in Wisconsin this time of year. Include information on your general location, number of chicks, and what your facilities look like and whether you have electricity to the coop. A photo of the cop might be good. Mention that you have grown chickens.
Another part of this is how long chicks need supplemental heat. It depends on the weather of course, how cold it gets. In my opinion, it also depends on how they are raised. If they are fed a relatively high protein chick starter and not a lot of low protein treats, they feather out faster. If they are exposed to the cold they acclimate and can handle cold better than chicks kept in a tropical environment. A lot depends on where they are kept once outside. If they can get out of the wind yet have decent ventilation they can handle cold better that if they are where wind chill can affect them. Being closed up in an air-tight brooder coop also presents problems. Wind protection down low and ventilation up high are good things. Again you can get different opinions on what is the right age to shut off the heat. Some of us would have the heat off by six weeks of age if not younger in the temperatures you will likely see in the next month or two, some would be horrified if you don’t go a lot longer.
Another huge issue is that grown hens usually will not tolerate a young chick entering their personal space. Some hens will tolerate that more than others but in chicken society it is a huge breach of chicken etiquette for a young chick to do that. The hen will most likely peck that chick to run it away. Some go even further and try to kill the chicks. If you have a broody hen that will adopt the chicks and protect them, then the chicks can be raised with the flock. She’ll also provide warmth. But a hen that is not broody and has not adopted them is a danger to them. You really don’t want to do that with chicks that young even if the temperatures were warm enough that they could survive those.
You will also get a wide variety of opinion on how to integrate those chicks with your flock and at what age. In my opinion how much room you have has a whole lot to do with that. The more room the better, the tighter the space the more the danger. I have a lot of room. None of this 4 square feet in the coop plus 10 square feet in the run stuff, a lot more. I think that makes it a lot easier on me to integrate chicks. My brooder is in the coop and my broody hens raise the chicks with the flock so the chicks are raised as part of the flock but have protection when they are very young. Basic integration is taken care of by the time I let them out of the brooder or the broody hen weans them and leaves them on their own to make their way with the flock. The chicks still have to deal with pecking order issues themselves until they are grown, that’s where extra room comes in really handy. But my adults don’t go out of their way to attack them because they are an accepted part of the flock. If they are not integrated that can and does happen. It can happen even if they are integrated, some hen are just brutes.
I generally open the brooder door and let them mingle with the flock at 5 weeks, I’ve never lost a chick to another adult flock member doing this. If my room were limited this could be a lot more dangerous. If the chicks had not lived with the flock the risk would be much higher. If you brood them away from the flock I strongly suggest you house them at least a week next to the main flock so they can see each other but not attack each other to help with this. There are other tricks that make this go easier that we can tell you. I can’t emphasize enough how important room is to this process. If your room is tight instead of five weeks you may be looking at 4 to 5 months to integrate them and even then it might be a challenge.
The more information you can give us on your situation the better we can tailor our response to your unique situation. How many chickens, young and old. How big in feet are your coop and your run. Photos of how your coop is set up can help a lot. Is your run covered and with side protection so wind and snow doesn’t blow in? Do you consider your run totally predator proof or is it just predator resistant, assuming you have a run?
I’ve not tried to tell you how to do anything, just tried to raise issues that I think you really need to seriously consider. Good luck!
