Hey guys, I have a couple questions. We brooder raised our thirteen girls in our garage with the heat lamp while we were building the coop and run, and moved the girls out to the coop as soon as we finished it (with the light). We just got the run done last weekend, and so now they are out during the days, and in the coop locked up at night. Their food and water is in the run.
First question is, should we have some extra food/water in the coop for night time? When they come out in the morning, they bum rush the food and seem like they are starving!
Second question is about them going in the coop at night. It took a few days of us popping them one by one out the chicken door for them to get going out in the morning, but now they are all lined up on the ramp waiting for me in the morning, and don't need any help. But at night time, they just pile up in the corner of the run next to the window that is closest to the light in the coop (the windows go all the way down to the ground), and don't even think to go inside. They know how, as they periodically go into the coop during the day, though not all of them do this. We have been going out after it's totally dark and putting them into the coop by hand, but I was wondering how we might work on sparking a mass exodus in the evenings so that we don't have to keep putting them all in every night. I guess at least it's easy since it's dark so they don't run away, but still...We have to be home when it gets dark every night so we can put them in.
My next question is about roosting. As of now, they don't roost to sleep at all. They just pile up on the floor under the light to sleep. They can roost, and I have seen them up on the roosts before. And they have a roosting ladder out in their run that they use all the time, so what gives? Are they just too young?
My last question is about the heat lamp. We have it in the coop, about three feet off the ground, and only at night. The girls are between 9 and 6 weeks old, and almost all are fully feathered. The older ones just look like small chickens, and the youngest two are only missing a few feathers on their heads/necks. We have one barred rock that while she is fully feathered, is still the size of a three or four week old chick(she's 8 weeks). It is still in the mid seventies here during the day (though they are in the shade so it's a bit cooler) and low to mid forties at night. Do they still need the heat lamp? I feel like they'll freeze if we take it out, but I don't know if that is true, or just me being worried.... I'd like to save the money on the electricity if we can, but I don't want them to be cold!
First question is, should we have some extra food/water in the coop for night time? When they come out in the morning, they bum rush the food and seem like they are starving!
Second question is about them going in the coop at night. It took a few days of us popping them one by one out the chicken door for them to get going out in the morning, but now they are all lined up on the ramp waiting for me in the morning, and don't need any help. But at night time, they just pile up in the corner of the run next to the window that is closest to the light in the coop (the windows go all the way down to the ground), and don't even think to go inside. They know how, as they periodically go into the coop during the day, though not all of them do this. We have been going out after it's totally dark and putting them into the coop by hand, but I was wondering how we might work on sparking a mass exodus in the evenings so that we don't have to keep putting them all in every night. I guess at least it's easy since it's dark so they don't run away, but still...We have to be home when it gets dark every night so we can put them in.
My next question is about roosting. As of now, they don't roost to sleep at all. They just pile up on the floor under the light to sleep. They can roost, and I have seen them up on the roosts before. And they have a roosting ladder out in their run that they use all the time, so what gives? Are they just too young?
My last question is about the heat lamp. We have it in the coop, about three feet off the ground, and only at night. The girls are between 9 and 6 weeks old, and almost all are fully feathered. The older ones just look like small chickens, and the youngest two are only missing a few feathers on their heads/necks. We have one barred rock that while she is fully feathered, is still the size of a three or four week old chick(she's 8 weeks). It is still in the mid seventies here during the day (though they are in the shade so it's a bit cooler) and low to mid forties at night. Do they still need the heat lamp? I feel like they'll freeze if we take it out, but I don't know if that is true, or just me being worried.... I'd like to save the money on the electricity if we can, but I don't want them to be cold!
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