Is outdoor brooding good for me?

[ChickenGirl555]

I recently read @azygous 's article on raising chicks outside, and now I really want to try it with my polish chicks I'm getting in April. But since I live in Wisconsin and the weather is pretty cold this year, I'm wondering if it would be a good choice for my environment. I raised my first 6 pullets in an indoor brooder since we were (obviously) new to the chicken world and I have to admit they aren't as cute and snuggly and friendly as I'd want them to be. They are getting better as they mature and spend more time with me, but I wanted them to like me as chicks, seeing how that's the most exciting and fun part of chickens. Well, to me anyways. Like I was saying, I'm not sure if it's good for me. I'm not sure how warm it'll be but most likely it won't be the right temperatures all the time since they go up and down a lot, even in summer.

When I picture myself raising them outdoors, I would bring them in at night since it is usually 50F or lower a lot in summer nights, but let them outside all day. I'm thinking about giving them a heat lamp still outside, since I have VERY long extension cords, and multiple of them. I don't think I'll get a heating pad, and I'm trying to avoid that since I have two perfectly good heat lamps and bulbs.

Ok, so if you don't understand since I'm not the best at explaining what I think, I'm really excited about raising them outdoors but I'm not sure temperature-wise if I can do it. A question I have is how much time can they go without heat? And would they go to the heat lamp if it was in one corner of the run?

Any help or advice is appreciated!

 

[azygous]

You can brood outdoors under your terms, and all it will require is thorough planning and a leap of faith.

What you have in your favor is knowing lots of folks have done this and their chicks have thrived. Remember, chicks were originally created as outdoor critters. What a concept!

For thousand of years broody hens have been successfully brooding chicks under worse early spring conditions than yours in Wisconsin. Yep, there are colder places and they have chickens there.

What I and many folks have observed when we have a broody brood and rear her babies is that the chicks do not spend all their time hunkered down under her skirts. I've witnessed my own chicks, either heating pad brooded or hen brooded, running around on a chilly day in the low 50s and behaving as if they were unaware how chilly it was while I'm standing there in my heavy coat.

Even chicks that are only a few days old spend more time away from the heat or their broody than under. And yes, they have a strong instinct to seek a heat source when they begin to feel a loss of body heat. Just as chicks begin life under a broody and know to go back to her when they're cold, you will start your chicks off under their heat lamp, and they will then know to go back to it when they get chilly. It's as simple as that.

You will need to provide protection from cold drafts and exposure to weather, but the chicks only need one spot under which to warm up, and they will find it and use it. People have been using heat lamps to brood chicks in cold barns and chicken houses since electricity was invented, and if it didn't work, people wouldn't still be doing it.

 

[ChickenGirl555]

You can brood outdoors under your terms, and all it will require is thorough planning and a leap of faith.

What you have in your favor is knowing lots of folks have done this and their chicks have thrived. Remember, chicks were originally created as outdoor critters. What a concept!

For thousand of years broody hens have been successfully brooding chicks under worse early spring conditions than yours in Wisconsin. Yep, there are colder places and they have chickens there.

What I and many folks have observed when we have a broody brood and rear her babies is that the chicks do not spend all their time hunkered down under her skirts. I've witnessed my own chicks, either heating pad brooded or hen brooded, running around on a chilly day in the low 50s and behaving as if they were unaware how chilly it was while I'm standing there in my heavy coat.

Even chicks that are only a few days old spend more time away from the heat or their broody than under. And yes, they have a strong instinct to seek a heat source when they begin to feel a loss of body heat. Just as chicks begin life under a broody and know to go back to her when they're cold, you will start your chicks off under their heat lamp, and they will then know to go back to it when they get chilly. It's as simple as that.

You will need to provide protection from cold drafts and exposure to weather, but the chicks only need one spot under which to warm up, and they will find it and use it. People have been using heat lamps to brood chicks in cold barns and chicken houses since electricity was invented, and if it didn't work, people wouldn't still be doing it.

How do you recommend I protect them from drafts/weather outside? Give them a box or something to block the wind? I was thinking of bringing them in at night but letting them in a small run out of my leftover chicken wire and some posts I've used for a garden and rabbit run during the day. Like I said I have extension cords for the heat lamp in just one corner or part. My coop is not a walk in, it's a nice tractor coop (please click on the coop link on my name so you better understand my situation). During this winter I haven't really moved it much, but during summer we will try to move it to another section of my 3 acre yard every few weeks so they have run access to fresh grass constantly. I can lay some over the top for hawk protection. We had a close call when my current 6 pullet were chicks, it was warm enough for them to be out for a while so we let them in an uncovered run made of rabbit fences put together. My little 8lb chiweenie was VERY protective of them, even biting me once when I tried to open their brooding bin. She ran at a hawk that landed next to the chicks with a dead mouse in its talons, and luckily scared it off before it took a chick.

 

[azygous]

How large is your run? Large enough for a nylon two-person tent? That would be temporary and quick, and totally weather and draft-proof. You would need to be very, very careful with the heat lamp, as you would using it anywhere, but you can secure it in one corner of the tent somehow. You would leave the window of the tent open a slit and the same for the tent door opening so you have cross ventilation so the heat won't build up inside like an oven. Do you have heavy winds there? If so, you will need to put a tarp up on the windward side to protect the tent from blowing around or guy it securely to the sides of the run so it won't tip over.

Or you can use a cardboard appliance box and weather-proof it by stapling plastic sheeting over it so it acts like a tent. Cut ventilation slits on opposite sides and a nice side access door. I have made cardboard brooders with big picture windows covered in translucent plastic that were quite cozy and full of natural light. Same as with a tent, it would need to be wind secured so it doesn't blow over. I always think about wind because it's almost always blowing where I live.

Of course, you will thoroughly test your setup before the chicks come so you have all the kinks ironed out, positioning of the lamp for the right temperature for the heat footprint and the right ventilation so the rest of the tent or box brooder is cool.

As the chicks grow, they will discover how to come out of their brooder and start to use the run. When they are weaned off heat, you can then move them into the coop, which won't be a major move since they've been living there in proximity all along.

A heating pad cave would be a lot safer than a heat lamp, and much easier to regulate the ambient temp inside the brooder so the chicks have it cool enough. You can always find a nice dark corner of a cupboard you never use for anything and store your heat bulbs there like I do. I do occasionally use a heat lamp in my run on single digit winter days for my very old hens to warm under. So the bulbs will get used up eventually.

Any problems that come up you can't figure out a solution for, just come back here, and you'll have lots of creative minds to help you.

 

[Blooie]

I’m another “outdoor with Mama Heating Pad” fan! Can’t add anything to my good friend’s posts! I started doing this some time ago, and she was quick to see the benefits - in fact, I think she jumped in almost immediately and made so many improvements on the whole idea! Of course, I stole her portal doors idea. Teehee! Ya know I love ya, @azygous!

 

[azygous]

Hey Blooie, you crazy girlfriend!

 

[ChickenGirl555]

This weekend I’m going to start testing these ideas, and I still have a whole month to prepare!

Thanks for everything!

 

[ChickenGirl555]

I had been thinking of putting it there, next to the coop, and just letting them see eachother for a few weeks, until I start to introduce them. I have some metal rabbit fences that I’ll put some chicken wire over so they can’t squeeze through the holes,
But then I was thinking about just letting the heat lamp hang in the far corner, and since it will be pretty warm and with the sun, it’ll just be somewhere to go if they get a little chilly. So if I keep them in my brooding bin for a day or two, and then start letting them outside with the adults with the same heat lamp in one corner, will it work and they will be warm? I’m sorry if this is annoying and you answered it, I’m just a little protective of these chicks because ever since I was a kid I wanted polish chickens but never had the time for them.

 

[azygous]

You will be able to tell if your chicks are warm enough by their behavior. Cold stressed chicks won't be active. They will be cowering in a pathetic pile, trying to melt into one another to steal body heat from each other in spite of being under a heat lamp.

Chicks that are contentedly warm are active, racing around and exploring. They will visit the heat source from time to time, but you won't see them spending long periods under it.

Make sure chicks have shade from the sun along with sunny spots. Even on a cold day, direct sun can overheat if the chicks can't move out of it. And always protect from cold drafts. Wind can suck body heat out of chicks before they can replenish under a heat source.

So, to summarize, outdoors is the best place for chicks to be as long as they are protected from wind, weather, have a bit of shade along with sunny spots, and have a reliable heat source.

 

[ChickenGirl555]

Ok then I should be good! If I have any more questions before the chicks come, I’ll ask, but for now I’ll start making the outdoor pen this weekend!