It's so quiet here...

[catchthewind]

I just put our 13 chicks outside in the coop, in an area separate from the 9 older ones. It feels so quiet in our house now! I'm so worried though. Worried the older ones will somehow break into the separate area (or the littles will break out), and worried the little ones will be too cold. 10 of them are 7-8 weeks and fully-feathered and I know will be fine, the other three are 6 week old Silkies and they're not completely feathered yet. But they were getting too crowded in the brooder; I feel like the fresh air and more space will do them more good than a warm but stale and crowded brooder. I don't want to separate just the Silkies because I'm worried enough about having to introduce them to the bigger ones, let alone reintroducing them to the ones they're with now! I may bring just the Silkies in over night though and put them back in the morning, but they all sleep in a big pile so I think they'll be fine even if I leave them out. Now I just have to figure out how to integrate them with the older chicks (10-17 weeks old).

Anyway, a part of me is glad for the silence and to be free of the dust. But there's another part of me that misses the constant peeping from the other room...

 

[jtbrown]

We still have 25 of our little ones in the basement brooder, just attached another brooder (dog crate) to give them more room, but will be looking at putting them out in their half of the chicken coop in next week or two. I believe I will miss them, but the thought of them outside is still so great! Seems like so much easier to take care of outside. I'll bet yours will be fine in the morning and happy when u check on them.

 

[jtbrown]

Oops, edited due to pushing submit too impatiently and getting a duplicate.