How long in the Brooder?

[stockton]

I have 4 chicks 2 weeks old. they are growing faster than I expected. Do I keep them in the brooder until they grow out of it? Or is there suppose to be something between the brooder and the coop? How old are chicks, normally when they get put in the coop.

Thanks again,
-Janet

 

[fshinggrl]

My chicks (13) were put out in the coop tonight for the first time. They will be 4 weeks old tomorrow (I suspect they were not day old though when we got them, so they could be 4 weeks old already). The nights here have still been chilly, so a heat lamp is on. I think a lot has to do with what the temperature is out there. Mine are not quite all feathered, hence the heat lamp.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

A lot will depend on the design of your coop and the temperatures of your location. Is your coop secure enough to contain small chicks? Are there spaces that small chicks could squeeze into, or out of? Is it safe enough to protect them from daytime predators?

Since it's always so warm here in South Florida I like to put my chicks outside during the daytimes, let them do all their pooping in the grass. I use bottomless wire cages that are set in the grass, with a piece of plywood on top for protection from the sun & the hawks. But I bring them inside at night until they're quite big, because there's so many more predators hunting at night. I keep them in plastic dog crates or cardboard boxes on the patio.

If your coop & run seem too big for your 4 lil chicks, perhaps you could partition off a smaller section for them to be in until they grow bigger.

 

[gritsar]

How old are your chicks and where are you located? If it's warm enough and your coop is draft free, they can be out there from day one. In those situations, people usually devise some sort of barrier or use the brooder to keep them enclosed in an area close to their heat lamp.

 

[farmerpete]

From farmerpete. Hi. I don't keep my newly hatched chicks in a brooder, never have. I keep all my newly hatched babys in a large plastic bin or refrigerator size box with a heatlamp at one end to keep them warm. I keep them inside until they start to try flying out of the box<about 18'' high> and when I know they are too big to get through the chicken wire, then I put them outside in a fenced in nursey thats 12x12x8ft. high, complete with covered nest boxes. The nursey also exposes them to the adult chickens on the other side of the fence. When they are big enough to go in with the other chickens , they are'nt attacked. I find this works best for me , but everyone has their own way thats successful . I have 24 yellow buffs,24 white leghorns, 3 black jersey giants, 2 guineas ,4 goats , and two pigs. We get $2.00 a dozen for our eggs and that is used to feed the chickens. We keep adding to our flock because we love chickens, and sometime we sell the chicks to other chicken lovers.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
That's what most of us around here would call a brooder.

My "brooder" was a child's plastic wading pool with a draft guard around it made of PVC and heavy duty plastic.

ETA: This pic of my brooder:

They were in a draft free shed for the first two weeks. By then it was too warm in the shed during the daytime (Mid-April) and we couldn't leave the door wide open to predators, so we moved them brooder and all to the screened porch. That's where they stayed until their coop was ready. They did absolutely fine.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Hey Gritsar, that's a spiffy PVC brooder frame! You could even replace the plastic with cardboard, cloth or mesh and give the chicks more room when they get a little older. And/or cover it with screen and use it as a tractor in the grass during the day when your weather is warm.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Thanks! Actually we did remove the pool when the chicks were about 3 weeks old and inserted 3 ft. high panels of catch pens leftover from the commercial houses. After the chick had been moved to the coop, we disassembled the PVC frame and stored it for future use. My SO never throws anything away and sometimes that's a good thing.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I usually keep mine in the brooder for 2 or 3 weeks. Then they go into the Nursery coop with all the other juvenile birds. It works for me.