Is it still too cold??

[Reurra]

So my birds have way out grown my brooder and are pretty crowded in. They are getting antsy and Im worried about pecking and other problems. It seems Im constantly cleaning the brooder out.

My largest bird Dragon is pretty much fully feathered, and Feathers is coming along nicely. However, Nibbles and Nugget seem to be lagging behind in feather growth, thier thighs are still downy though they are the same size as the other two birds. I wont be putting Stumpy out there yet, hes going to keep my two RIR chicks company until they are older.

The night temps here have been in the the mid to low 40s with a few nights getting down into the 30s. Days have been in the upper 60s and mid 70s. Its going to rain the next couple of days and the temp is going to get down to 39 or so at night for a few days.

We keep the house around 60-70 all the time. Is it too soon? I cant build another brooder, and Im worried about space for my babies.

If I were to make a deep litter set up, would they be OK? Im planning on moving them out by the end of the week.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

They should be okay in the outdoor coop now that they are mostly feathered as long as it is dry inside and there are not bad drafts. Just make sure they understand the idea of going in to roost at night. I wasn't the only one who had to teach my little chickens about the roosting routine at dusk.

 

[Reurra]

They seem to ahve the concept of roosting, they have a roosting bar in their brooder, though I dont know if they use it at night because I cover up the brooder to ward off drafts. I ahve 2 grown hens in the coop and I will ahve to build a divider. I just dont want Nibbles and Nugget to freeze. Like I said, thier thighs still are pin feathered and mostly fluff. I dont think it would be a good idea to put out only 2 at a time, it might upset the pecking order, wouldnt it?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I agree that it is better to put them out at the same time. Is it possible that when they are in a roosting position, their less feathered thighs are kept warm under them? How many weeks old are they?

 

[Reurra]

They are about 5 1/2 weeks, they should be six weeks by friday or saturday.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

A lot of people transfer the chicks to the coop around 4-5 weeks. I suppose if you opened the window a bit for a few nights near the brooder, they could start getting used to cooler temps at night.

BTW, my chickens roosted in their brooder, too, but they at first they did not understand that dusk meant it was time to go in the coop. So I when I checked on them the first several evenings I found them huddled together in the run and had to transfer them into the coop.

 

[mawmaw11]

I just put my 4 week old EE and Buff Orp's in the coop this afternoon...checked on them about 5 times already! They are standing next to the screen door looking for me so I'm feeling guilty...plan on keeping them in the coop for about a week with a few hours in the run every day. I'm not too happy with the pine shavings I put in...they moved it all over the place and knocked over the water too. Guess it will calm down soon.