Two weeks may be longer than you want them in the house with that many. I don’t think starting them in the house to make sure they survive their travel is a bad idea, but I think you’ll find they pass that super vulnerable fluffy chick stage rather quickly. By the end of a week, you’ll start seeing feathers. I put two week old chicks outside in the coop with heat in December. They probably could have gone sooner.
As for the heater in the coop, I wouldn’t. I did that, too, and it kept shutting off because it got so dusty and dirty it was a fire hazard. The heater had a mechanism to detect overheating, it did overheat and thankfully shut off. I stopped using it once I realize what was going on. It wasn’t safe, and that was a safe sort of heater, with that turnoff feature. Chicks are very, very dusty.
I had a heat plate for those December chicks. To help retain heat, I put it underneath a cardboard box with one side cut out so the chicks could enter but the other three sides and the top would hopefully trap heat. The chicks used it, I don’t know how necessary that was, but much safer than the heater in the coop.
My chickens also turned over the heater in the coop, despite my best security measures. Thank goodness it had a turnoff feature for that, too.
As for the heater in the coop, I wouldn’t. I did that, too, and it kept shutting off because it got so dusty and dirty it was a fire hazard. The heater had a mechanism to detect overheating, it did overheat and thankfully shut off. I stopped using it once I realize what was going on. It wasn’t safe, and that was a safe sort of heater, with that turnoff feature. Chicks are very, very dusty.
I had a heat plate for those December chicks. To help retain heat, I put it underneath a cardboard box with one side cut out so the chicks could enter but the other three sides and the top would hopefully trap heat. The chicks used it, I don’t know how necessary that was, but much safer than the heater in the coop.
My chickens also turned over the heater in the coop, despite my best security measures. Thank goodness it had a turnoff feature for that, too.