How soon could they go out

[stew1]

If I hatch some on 2-13 how soon could they go out? I live in northern il and am going to be able to have 2 to 4 heat lamps if needed. The building is sealed up tight with a cement floor and double walled but not insulated. I plan to hatch around 60 chicks and my current brooder is only about 35 sq witch looks huge for the 22 2 weekers in it now. I may add another brooder that would be 64 sq, so I would have about 100 sq of brooder. My coop is 300 sq and will be empty. The chicks will be dual purpose barnyard mix. Should I just move them when it looks crowded? I don't want to do a bunch of small batches and have to have them reestablish the pecking order and what not. I plan to butcher around 30 to 40 of them and keep some for eggs. Im going to incubate 84 eggs, my last batch had a 60% hatch rate so if goes as planned I should end up with around 50 chicks. Any thoughts/opinions would be great, thanks.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Quote: If you have a building that is solid with no drafts at the brooder level and heat lamps at on end of the brooder, you can brood in it from day one. Lots of people brood outside, even in the cold as long as the housing is sufficiant. It also helps when you have a lot of birds to huddle together.
I choose to brood inside, (Yes, I said inside!!! That's right-I'm one of those people!) and find it very easy to brood a dozen chicks in house for the first 4-6 weeks. After that it starts getting hard to keep up with the cleaning if you want a smell free house, ask me, mine are 10 weeks now and still inside. Not fun anymore. Anyhow, lol, if I were to brood much more than my dozen, I'd be looking for alternatives to inside...lol. If you start them inside, from all of my research I have found they need to be fully feathered (abt 8 weeks) before going outside and then they would need a heating source while they get acclimatized to the cold.
That is my knowledge and take on brooding.

 

[stew1]

The building is at my grandmothers, so I wanted to keep them home as long as I could in my heated garage. The 22 that are out there now are growing quick and don't know if there 35 sq ft is going to make it till my uncle is ready. I just wanted to watch them close for the first 4 to 6 weeks before they leave my watch. I will go out and check on them at least every other day and my dad who live up the road said he would look after them as well. We used to farrow hogs in there year around with no freezing problems but I think 30 250 watt heat bulbs would keep the hole building warm, im thinking 2 to 4 heat bulbs. I hope we have a early spring. I should probly wait to hatch them but got a sweat deal on eggs ($3 a dozen) and want birds in my freezer asap. Summer will be here before we know it and weekend bbqs. And then ill be wishing I got going sooner. I think they will be good though, just wanted to get so opinions, thanks.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

The building is at my grandmothers, so I wanted to keep them home as long as I could in my heated garage. The 22 that are out there now are growing quick and don't know if there 35 sq ft is going to make it till my uncle is ready. I just wanted to watch them close for the first 4 to 6 weeks before they leave my watch. I will go out and check on them at least every other day and my dad who live up the road said he would look after them as well. We used to farrow hogs in there year around with no freezing problems but I think 30 250 watt heat bulbs would keep the hole building warm, im thinking 2 to 4 heat bulbs. I hope we have a early spring. I should probly wait to hatch them but got a sweat deal on eggs ($3 a dozen) and want birds in my freezer asap. Summer will be here before we know it and weekend bbqs. And then ill be wishing I got going sooner. I think they will be good though, just wanted to get so opinions, thanks.

I like having mine close the first 4-6 weeks as well, but for a different reason. Mine are intended strictly as layers and "poultry pets". (I'm one of those that could never eat what I raise...lol. I've come to terms with the fact that the roos that hatch out that have to go will most likely become someone's dinner, but I work on a don't ask-don't tell principle-I don't want to know. lol) I like having them close so I can interact with them in hopes that they will be a more docile and personable group of birds. I'm hoping for an early spring as well so I can finsih the coops and run.
I think yours will be fine at any stage as long as you are using a heating supply when you do transfer them.

 

[newwestchick]

I put my 22 three week old chicks out two nights ago, with a 250 watt heat lamp. It frosted very heavily the second night and we have had a ton of rain and some wind. All are totally fine, even the slower feathering cockerels. They were out in the covered chicken yard for about 5 hours without heat, they would just pop back into the coop if they started feeling cold. Just keep in mind what they would be exposed to if they were with mama - they would be outside from day two or three and pecking in the dirt with the rest of the bunch I think being raised in a coop and alleviating the boredom of the brooder is the best thing that can happen to them!