How long to keep chicks in brooder

[fdehaven]

OK I'm about ready to get my chicks but even after reading hundreds of pages on BYC still unsure of alot of thingslike:

How long to keep them in the brooder?

After the brooder can I move them to the coop I built and just not let them out in the run?

I want to make sure I don't hurt the chicks by placing them out to early so any help would be appreciated.

I have one last question... I was told that if you place a chick between your fingers and if it doesn't strggel then its a hen, IS this true?
I went to the local TSC and they said they get the chicks in but you pick out what you want. I want all pullets but the guy said that it's the luck of the drawl.

 

[Uzuri]

Just to get this out of my system -- almost anything you hear on sexing that doesn't involve either looking up the chick's bum on the first day or looking at secondary sex characteristics when they appear is an old wives tale. With the exception of certain breed-specific markers.

Mine stayed in way, way too long, but there's really no reason why yours can't go outside as early as a few weeks old -- so long as you have a way to keep the temperature up for them until they have all their feathers. You've almost certainly seen the "rule of 5s" (start chicks at 95 degrees and drop 5 degrees each week) so you can use that to figure out when your ambient outside temperature will be OK for them without a light. Or you can look for them to be "fully feathered" which is something the first-timers often have trouble with. Mine seemed to be fully feathered at 6 weeks, but I kept them in nights until 9 weeks (partly because their house wasn't done yet!) They'd been out on grass in cages during the day from the age of 5 weeks, though you could go earlier. I had to go away for a weekend at 4 weeks and I didn't want to risk them picking something up that might develop for the chick sitters while I was away.

You can move them straight from the brooder to the coop -- and in fact, there's no reason to keep them out of the run! Other than, perhaps, to keep them locked up in the coop a few days so that they come to understand that it's home and you don't have to have a chicken rodeo every night when you put them in

 

[gritsar]

I agree with what Uzuri said about sexing.
As far as when you move the chicks out to their coop, will the coop have electricity? The chicks can go out into a draft free coop at any age, so long as you can keep the temp. in their brooder/coop to the temp. needed per their age. That's where the 90 to 95 rule of thumb comes in handy.
I don't know about TSC stores, but we have stores called Atwoods that are very similiar to TSCs. They have bins of straight run chicks, where it is going to be luck of the draw; but they also have bins of pullets, which should be all female, although the occasional male slips in. If TSC has a bin marked pullets, head for that and cross your fingers.

 

[catdaddy66]

Quote:

It's almost like herding kittens!

 

[write2caroline]

I think you might be more accurate with sexing by rolling dice or flipping coins. It is tough which is why they pay chicken sexers a whole lotta money - seriously, it is a job I would like to learn to do.

Wait till they are feathered out. I would take mine out during the day in their coop after they were about 5 weeks but it is hot here in Florida I would bring them in at night.

I had two brooders one was smaller when they were smaller then I moved them into a bigger one. It got really obvious when they were older and wanted out of that brooder.

It really depends on the temperature and how safe your coop is. Mine took a while to learn to climb up the ladder at night and I was going out every night and putting them to bed. I tried treats and all kinds of guises.

I would simply suggest just taking it one step at a time and posting questions here as they come up.

First day getting them watered is the first hurdle and they sleep so cute and stretched out. They change so fast and before you know it they are goofy feathered teen agers and then you are dying for that first egg and waiting and waiting.....then it happens - magic!

Enjoy your babies.

Caroline

keep us posted on your oddessy!

 

[felidaet]

I moved mine to the coop last year at about 6 weeks old. It was late May. I kept a heat lamp om there for about two weeks. I kept them locked in the coop for about a week. Then I gave them free access to the run during the day.