Ladies (and newly found gentleman) got an Upgrade!!

[Allcoopedupwith6]

Sooooooo..... our new flock is only 4-5 weeks old but growing like weeds!!! Hubby and I put our heads together and Voilà.... I think they like it!!! I can definitely say they kiddos do !! Any suggestions on what I can add to give them a little extra to do at such a young age?

 

[sourland]

Love that last picture. Is their future coop and pen ready ? They'll soon be flying out of their present home.

 

[azygous]

Don't worry. They will find something to entertain themselves. Like flying up onto those pallets and then onward to explore the WORLD!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Look at that little cutie with all them curls. What a doll baby. The chicks are going to be able to get out of there. Wont take them long. Might want to put some wire in that gap under the first board. They look pretty spoiled to me. hahaha

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Love that last picture. Is their future coop and pen ready ? They'll soon be flying out of their present home.

Dont you want one of those Sour ? @sourland

 

[AllenK RGV]

Please join us on the Texas thread here.

I definately am thinking just like @sourland time for a coop. Those are at the age they become super duper dander monsters inside the house. Yes I realize Hillsboro, TX(1 hour south of DFW) will be getting the odd cool front from time to time but the only heat I would be adding inside the coop is a huddle box with an opening pointing SSE. If your coop is already safely wired for electricity you could add a MHP(I use a cheap $13 heat pad taped to the bottom of a 5 gallon galvanized bucket), however, with them being full feathered no supplemental heat is needed.

 

[Allcoopedupwith6]

Sooooo we definitely made the biggest mistake of not “finishing” the coop before hand. In our defense we had one decided to convert our shed into a coop so we now only have the chicken wire left to put in place ‍ .... surprised... probably not lol .... we did put a Top on the new brooder!!

spoiled yes ... maybe a little lol

okay so y’all suggest moving them out? I’ve been cleaning the brooder once every two to three days to keep the dust/dander down which seems to be helping!! I wasn’t planning on moving them out until around the first of January when they are closer to 7-8 weeks ... but again I’m still so new to this I’m sure you all will know better!!

 

[AllenK RGV]

How rural are you living in Hillsboro?

In that part of Texas you have opossum, skunks, snakes, rats, coyote, raccoon(if water near), bobcat and mountain lions to consider. I know I left out the red tail hawks. I only mention that as you discussed using chicken wire which is a solid choice for run fencing, but the coop itself should be hardened if at all possible with hardware cloth as you have plenty of night time predators. For securing it I use the saber drive screws as the attached washer head works great, and for trimming cutting hardware cloth I use the cheapest angle grinder Harbor Freight sells vs trying to get by with hand trimming and cutting myself up on it.
Here are my main construction project screws:
View attachment 1981751
This was a coop door I built earlier this month to get a bachelor pad up and running.

And nearly finished:

 

[azygous]

Your temps are so mild, those little twerps won't even notice a bit of cool at night once they move into their coop. But it won't hurt to take them outside during the day for acclimatizing, and they will love being able to run and romp. If you provide enough space, you will even see them get a little air under their feet as they try out those wings, which is a hoot to watch.

This is what I give my chicks to sleep in for their first few nights in the coop which gets them to huddle together to reflect their body heat back at one another, eliminating the need for a heat source.

 

[Allcoopedupwith6]

So this is the coop before we put all the goodies inside and finished the top. (Just using as a reference to where they will be housed)

Again this was before!! I haven’t gotten an updated photo yet!

The area we are in is the “urban” area... so we have hawks, raccoons, squirrels, snakes, cats and a few possums. I’ve looked into hardware mesh but honestly until now I didn’t really think it was much different than chicken wire so thank you!!