I did it - They're in the coop!

[Connorrm]

Well I bit the bullet. All 28 of them (18 BOs, and 10 banty cochins) are in the big coop.


I sold off my flock last year so it was empty and cleaned from top to bottom. They went from 5 x 4 foot at 3 weeks old to 17 x 8 foot. They look so tiny in there now!!


It was so cute seeing them run and flap a few inches off the ground. Now they have their pie plate of DE to dust bathe in (which they were previously doing in their dirty shavings YUCK), a new waterer and feeder. I kept the heat lamp in there. It's going to be in the 40s at night here in Upstate NY. They are draft free and predator proofed in there.

I'm a little nervous but it was good heading out there just now and not seeing them huddled under the light wondering why their dad cast them out of their cozy brooder box. A few were laying down sleeping one by one and the rest were all over exploring and eating

 

[bj taylor]

good for you. 28. that's alot. i have 14. these are my first. it's so liberating to move them to the coop. i moved mine @ 3wks. soon after we made a small corral outside the pop door to keep them close (the run is pretty big). they're 6 wks now & loose in the full run all day. they love it & so do i. it's so funny because when i open the pop door in the morning, they're so ready they just fall out when i open it.
mine are all one size (except for a runt). do you have issues with them being different sized?

 

[Connorrm]

I haven't had any issues yet. It's very strange. My golden laced cochin banties feathered out quickly. So did my buffs. But my mottled cochin banties are still mostly down. I do have one runt I saved from pasty butt. He/She still looks like a day old.

They let him/her nuzzle right in. They're doing well. Hoping that they stay that way

 

[chicklover16]

 

[ButchGood]

This is good to hear. Ive been planning to get mine out of the brooder,(wich is in a spare bedroom) and into a brand new, empty 8x8 coop at 3 weeks. The will be 3 weeks old on Monday, so I'll probably make the move on Suday. Ive been putting them out in the run in a chick playpen. So it will be easier to get them in at night out there.

 

[Fierlin1182]

Glad to hear that everything is going well! Good idea, providing your chicks with something to dust bathe in. Often we walk outside to the sight of a large ball of feathers embedded in a deep hole in among the pumpkins. They probably enjoy the shade from the leaves, lol.

I still remember when my chicks first went outside. They all but disappeared among the massive mounds of dirt on the newly cleaned and raked coop floor. You had to be careful not to step on a chick when you were walking in to change the water.

 

[Connorrm]

Yes they have about six inches of shavings in the coop...and 18 of them are buff! so it will be a challenge!! I'm just hoping they stay cozy and warm. They should!

 

[Connorrm]

Well I checked on them this morning. I was expecting them to come running to the door like GIVE US OUR WARM BROODER BACK! Instead there were 4 cochins up on the highest roost rung - no idea how they made it - three BOs in the dust bath pan, and the rest scattered throughout the coop doing normal chicken things. I had one mottled cochin baby sitting under the light on his side soaking up the heat. But he got up and walked over to me and climbed on my shoe. Then ran off after something I didn't see.

I think we worry for nothing. Give them a heat lamp, draft free and you can put the little buggers anywhere after a couple of weeks. These guys are more resilent than we think!

 

[Fierlin1182]

We pretty much gave up on the back of our garden the minute we let the chickens loose, they really made it their own.

 

[Connorrm]

We pretty much gave up on the back of our garden the minute we let the chickens loose, they really made it their own.

I have mine penned into a HUGE run. They may as well be free ranging. It's about 100ft x 25ft. I have a sturdy 4ft high chicken wire fence that keeps out dogs/fox during the day time. At night they're shut up in the coop which is totally predator proof. I don't have any neighbors. There's bushes, clumps of flowers, and things for them to hide under (couple of mediumish aspen trees) should there be a hawk. I would free range but:

1. Chicken poop is a delicacy to my dogs. They will follow them around and lap it up. GROSS

2. I value my gardens!

3. I have a problem with my chickens being too friendly and trying to hop into my car when I come home from work or go to work.


The giant yard is a compromise.