Is this ok? Brooder question, et al

[ehoneybee]

My friends gave us their homemade setup. I have a plastic tub, a stick with a heat lamp, and some nipples (they affixed them to water bottles). Anyway, other than adding wood shavings, anything else I need? I can just put the chick starter in a shallow container, right? They will be 1-2 weeks old when we get them. How long can they stay in the tub? When will they be ready to go outside in the coop? We have 5 hens and 2 coops so they can be separated right away.

 

[PirateGirl]

how long they can stay in the tub depends on size, plan on 2 square feet per chick
how soon they can go outside depends much on weather and if you are able to safely provided a heated area within the coop

 

[ehoneybee]

how long they can stay in the tub depends on size, plan on 2 square feet per chick
how soon they can go outside depends much on weather and if you are able to safely provided a heated area within the coop

How long do they need a heat source? Do they need all that room if I keep it clean? Aren't they all just huddling under the heat source?

 

[rosemarythyme]

How long do they need a heat source? Do they need all that room if I keep it clean? Aren't they all just huddling under the heat source?

Depending on your temps, they might not need it at all, or they might need it 4, 5 weeks.

Yes they need space, healthy chicks are active and run around and get into everything... if they're huddling under the heat they're either ill or too cold.

 

[PirateGirl]

They aren't so little after a few weeks and they will need the space. Generally speaking they need heat until they have adult feathers at which time they can regulate their own body temp. If your outside temps are as warm or warmer than this you don't need to supply extra heat.

 

[ehoneybee]

They aren't so little after a few weeks and they will need the space. Generally speaking they need heat until they have adult feathers at which time they can regulate their own body temp. If your outside temps are as warm or warmer than this you don't need to supply extra heat.

Thanks! I'm in MA so maybe at 4 weeks I can let them out.

 

[ehoneybee]

So, 8 weeks looks like the time I can relocate them to the coop? I will keep them separated from the others, but when can I combine them? Just try and see how the other hens react?

 

[ehoneybee]

Do I have to use a nipple waterer or just a small Mason jar top one?

 

[Criticalicious]

Put the heat source at one end (not in the middle) so they can get away from heat if they need to. The temperature chart is a good rule of thumb but if you have a cold hardy breed, they can withstand lower temperatures. Heat source needs to be available as a backup of course if you put them outside.

For example, I have 4 week old BCMs outside in a coop and run thriving just fine in 60 degree weather. At night they have a heat plate if temps drop too cold. Last night they decided to sleep on the roost under the window, and I think last night's low was around 70 degrees.

 

[woodmort]

This isn't my first rodeo, having kept chicken for over 30 years. My chicks are a month old today and have been running around on one side of the coop for a week. Our daytime temperatures have been, at the most, in the 70's with night-time in the upper 40's. The only heat source is a 50-chick plate brooder which, as far as I can tell, they mainly roost on. They're fine. Actually the quicker you can safely bring them into cool temperatures, the faster they feather out.