Inbetween Coop, what to use after Brooder??

[bragabit]

I have a one of those huge metal horse troughs. Its about 5 feet long and 3 feet wide. My 12 baby chicks seem to love it, and because I have some chicks that are 3 weeks apart I can have different temps in there. Well did I mention this is my first go around with chickens?

My husband built a beautiful coop that has roosts, nest boxes and access to a 50x100 free range. Problem is that coop is occupied by adult chickens that our friends gave us.

So how long can my chicks stay in the horse trough? Some of my 5 weekers have been caught on the lip of the trough and it makes me nervous they are going to get out.

I know I can't put them into the big girl coop until at least 16 weeks. But it is starting to warm up and I would love to let them outside.

Should I build a small temp coop for them? If so if the opening was big enough for chicks but not adults could they have access to the free range? Or would the ladies hurt them?


Sorry for all the questions, I am a newbie

 

[bethandjoeync]

once the older ones go to the coop and no one is in the brooder, get more chicks!!! i would hate to see an empty brooder

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I'm also interested in this. There's an epic thread of brooder pictures, but it would also be interesting to see what people use for the intermediate step.

 

[wings]

I am having this SAME dillemna! (<--sp?)

If you have that much room in your coop to accommodate the little ones, and your only problem is that they'll get pecked to death, I would reccommend (<-- sp?) that you section off a part of the big girls' coop with something really strong and sturdy, such as hardware cloth. This way, it will be easier to add the babies to the big chickens when the time comes.

If you have enough space, I would definitely go with this: otherwise, you better get building on another little coop!

Good luck!

~wings

 

[morelcabin]

I build a small seperate pen in my coop for the younger ones. They actually are brooded in there and spend the next 12 or so weeks in there before they join the rest of the flock.

 

[Shared Acres]

I went to Home Depot and got this plastic mesh that's next to the chicken wire and bought a couple of posts with it. I section off a small part of my run (where the big chickens are) and put my teenagers in there.

1-I can easily take down the mesh when they are ready to join the big boys.
2-It's cheap and doesn't require much space
3-They can all start getting used to each other.

 

[Chicken Woman]

I am using one of those plastic play houses in my garage. I got it for $30 at a yard sale and just added wile to the windows. I take them outside and put them in a little portable run that I make them.

I have also used a dog house in the past.

 

[montana girl]

Here are a couple photos to show what my husband and I did.

This photo is the inside of the coop before making the partition. My husband and son are moving the egg box farther down so that they can put the wall up.

In this photo you can see that there is a partition. He used some plywood for the upper part and hinged it, making a door so that I can get through to the other side to get eggs. About 2 1/2 feet of the bottom of the partition is chicken wire. This lets the big girls see the little girls without harming them.

I have 9 chicks, and a small house, and things were getting extra dusty and cramped inside : )

 

[bragabit]

Those are great ideas. Does anyone know if I create a seperate area for the chicks, can they free range? Will they know to run to their safe place if the ladies get mean?

 

[AHappychick]

I build small pens with a plastic dog house and liuttle roost for them when they are at their teenage phase and can be outside, they dont need nest boxes yet, and I cover 1/3 of the run for added shelter.