Kicking my 4 week olds out to the coop?

[EastJacket]

Hi all,

My chicks are 4 weeks old as of today, and I absolutely can't stand the dust and smell in the house anymore! Not only that, but I just put them all in the run for the day and realized that if it took me 10 minutes to catch all 6 in the brooder, I am never going to grab them all in the run.

Temps this week are highs in the 80's (80-88F) and lows ranging from 57-68. I do have my EcoGlow that I could wire out into the coop with some hassle (would need to cut some holes in the hardware cloth). What does everyone think? Ok in the coop, ok with heat, or bring them in?

 

[eggsandhens]

I think that’s fine! That’s about the time I started to take mine out in the run (with a little supervision at first) Do you have any other chickens? I didn’t, so I’m not so sure on how safe it will be if you do have other chicks

 

[Sonya9]

Hi all,

My chicks are 4 weeks old as of today, and I absolutely can't stand the dust and smell in the house anymore! Not only that, but I just put them all in the run for the day and realized that if it took me 10 minutes to catch all 6 in the brooder, I am never going to grab them all in the run.

Temps this week are highs in the 80's (80-88F) and lows ranging from 57-68. I do have my EcoGlow that I could wire out into the coop with some hassle (would need to cut some holes in the hardware cloth). What does everyone think? Ok in the coop, ok with heat, or bring them in?

I assume you mean keep them in the hen house with the ecoglow? How are you going to get them in there?

If you go that route make sure the inside of the hen house is not drafty and they can't wander away from the heat source during the night (and not be able to find their way back).

 

[EastJacket]

I think that’s fine! That’s about the time I started to take mine out in the run (with a little supervision at first) Do you have any other chickens? I didn’t, so I’m not so sure on how safe it will be if you do have other chicks

Thanks for the fast response! No other chicks or adults, just these six.

 

[BigECart]

I’m pretty sure they would be fine with the 68°, not sure about the 57°. Maybe you could fill a couple of gallon jugs with hot water to raise the temperature of the coop at night? The first time I had chicks I put them out in the coop in November, with the ecoglow. They were so messy! This last group of chicks had a run on our back porch and were only brought in at night so we tolerated them a lot longer and didn’t need any heat when we transitioned them.

 

[EastJacket]

I assume you mean keep them in the hen house with the ecoglow? How are you going to get them in there?

If you go that route make sure the inside of the hen house is not drafty and they can't wander away from the heat source during the night (and not be able to find their way back).

We will figure something out tonight (probably corner them), I have three that are super social and three that act like they've never seen a person in their life (even though I hand feed them multiple times a day). The coop is a 4x8 so not too big to get lost in, I can put the heater in the center.

We have been leaving all the windows in our house open at night to get them used to temperature fluctuations and they don't sleep under the heat at all, so I'm hoping that's a promising sign.

 

[EastJacket]

I’m pretty sure they would be fine with the 68°, not sure about the 57°. Maybe you could fill a couple of gallon jugs with hot water to raise the temperature of the coop at night? The first time I had chicks I put them out in the coop in November, with the ecoglow. They were so messy! This last group of chicks had a run on our back porch and were only brought in at night so we tolerated them a lot longer and didn’t need any heat when we transitioned them.

That's a good idea! I might just put the EcoGlow out there but if we do have to cut the HW cloth I may try that instead. I'm guessing (hoping) if I shut all the windows I can get the coop to retain enough heat as well.

 

[eggsandhens]

Thanks for the fast response! No other chicks or adults, just these six.

No problem! I spend a lot (probably a little to much) time on here, and I usually look on the “New Threads” section. Anyway, I don’t see too big of a problem with letting them be in the run, however the temperature does give me a little fear for them. As @BigECart said, I think they would be fine at 68 degrees too, not sure about anything lower though. Also the mug idea is a great idea! I’ll have to give that a try next year

 

[imnukensc]

They'll be fine with no heat. Put my 2 week olds out with a hot plate and they've never used it in the 2 weeks they've been out. Warmer here at night of course, but 4 week olds will be fine in your temps with no heat. That 95F the first week and dropping by 5 degrees a week is a lousy and inaccurate guide, IMO.

 

[Tonyroo]

If there that old I wouldn't bother with the ecoglow. They'll huddle together at night to stay warm. Just remove any draft flowing in your coop.