I will be getting 6 chicks in May. I plan on putting them in my basement until...? How long before I can move them to the coop? 4 weeks? 6 weeks? 8 weeks? I live in midcoast Maine so the evenings could get down into the 40s/50s that time of year. I would like to move them out as soon as possible, but not too soon. Also, will they smell in my basement very much? Curious, Steve
until they're feathered out. Between 6-8 weeks. They should be under a heat lamp starting at 95f for the first week and reducing the temp by 5 degrees each week. I'm not sure about the smell
Quote:Mine went out into the coop at about three weeks as I could maintain the required temperature then. It is more a question of being able to keep them at the correct temperatures than a fixed number of weeks. Yes they can smell things up due more to the temperatures things are being kept at. If you start them on the floor with pine savings (first day or so with paper towels on top of the shavings) you can keep the smell down by just adding more shavings. Just be certain to clean up any wet spots and keep their waterers clean (the feed and shavings that get sucked into the waterer can bread nasty smelly things under a heat lamp). I started mine last May on shavings over a plastic tarp. Worked out just fine when the birds went out their litter went with them and was placed over the fresh shavings on ceramic tile in their coop. I haven't had to clean the coop at all. There is a pretty good layer on the floor now.
Steve I had six chicks and a duck in a brooder in my dining room for six weeks. It wasn't awful but by about 4 weeks I'd had enough of it. They can generally go outside when they are fully feathered and have an area free from drafts and wet to shelter in. If you have a coop ready and can keep and area where the temperature can be maintained and they can get warm and be secured they could probably go out sooner. I don't know how big your brooder is but mine did ok in a 4 x 4 brooder for the 6 weeks they were in there but I would wonder about anything much smaller. Hope that helps and bumps you up for the more experienced to chime in.
4-6 weeks. It really depends on the temperature outside, how much protection you can offer, and how bad they are making you crazy in the brooder box. .....Alan.
