I'm currently raising my 5th/6th batch of chicks ever, so I'm no stranger to the process of raising/owning chickens, but the difference with this brood is that it's 11 chicks, whereas I've only had a max of 6 chicks at once in any of my other broods. So...it's causing some difficulties. Our typical bin brooder was perfect for 6 chicks to be raised until they were feathered, and then we would move them to a ferret cage that worked well and gave them room to learn ladders, flying, and have more space. But it was just big enough for 6 chicks at that age, so now that we have nearly double that, we can't use the same tactic. We made a new brooder from an old bookshelf, and that worked great for the past two weeks. However, we actually have different ages of chicks in this group. I think half are 1.5 weeks older than the rest, so they're all feathered and I can tell which are boys and girls, but they're giant compared to the new brooder. Additionally, the younger chicks are bantams and one silkie, while the older chicks are standards and another silkie.
Wisconsin has decided to be very difficult this Spring, and it snowed almost the entirety of yesterday, so I don't think it's fit to put these chicks out just yet. It's been in 70s one day and back to 30-40s the next, so I need to make sure the chicks can handle any temperature Wisconsin throws at them. Therefore...how feathered do they have to be? We got the two groups at different ages and times in February. In the past, I've paid attention more to feathering, once they are fine with house temperature, to determine if they are ready or not to live outside with the rest of the flock. Because I have my first silkies, and bantams, and it's unpredictable future weather, how long should I wait? I was hoping to put them out this weekend because the bantams are starting to get their back and chest feathers completed. Please offer any advice or your own stories! Anything helps!
Wisconsin has decided to be very difficult this Spring, and it snowed almost the entirety of yesterday, so I don't think it's fit to put these chicks out just yet. It's been in 70s one day and back to 30-40s the next, so I need to make sure the chicks can handle any temperature Wisconsin throws at them. Therefore...how feathered do they have to be? We got the two groups at different ages and times in February. In the past, I've paid attention more to feathering, once they are fine with house temperature, to determine if they are ready or not to live outside with the rest of the flock. Because I have my first silkies, and bantams, and it's unpredictable future weather, how long should I wait? I was hoping to put them out this weekend because the bantams are starting to get their back and chest feathers completed. Please offer any advice or your own stories! Anything helps!