More newbie questions, advice needed

[Moriah]

Ok, so as I have posted before, I have 26 fuzz butts just over a week old now. They are going through food like it is going out of style and are doing good with drinking lots of water. Here are my concerns:

1. Their three-room brooder box is plenty large enough, except the walls. They are now able to "jump" over 3/4 of the way up to the top, it is just a matter of time before they can scale the walls and I have no way to make the walls taller, and I'd rather not have loose chicks in my spare bedroom. The temp in the box directly under the light stays pretty even at about 90, they no longer sleep there but in the box further from the light, where it is between 80-85, sleeping in their little groups. I would have to figure a way of moving the light up more as it is as high as I can safely put it. I guess another option is to get a different light bulb (I have a red heat lamp currently).

2. The coop is for the most part complete, we just need to add the roosts inside and run an outlet out there. It should be predator proof (we have racoons, squirrels and a neighbors cat) but as there hasn't been anything in it to draw predators I don't know for 100% sure. Temps at night have been in the 50's and the days are anywhere from high 60's to high 80's.

3. With the food and how much are they eating, is it bad to let them "free feed" or should I only fill it once in the morning and once in the evening and leave it empty until the next refill. I fill the water whenever it needs to be cleaned regardless of how much is in the bottle.

I just wonder if it would be OK to move them to the coop, along with the heat lamp (I can run an extension cord until the outlet is done) or move the whole thing, brooder boxes and all to the coop.

sorry for such a long post, but I am looking forward to the wisdom from those more experienced in such matters.

 

[Linda in San Diego]

I would move them to the coop. We moved ours at 5 weeks, on one of the hottest days of the year. They were in the run and we were finishing the coop that day. It worked fine, they were safe and the coop was ready enough for them that night!

Good Luck!

 

[Moriah]

I miss San Diego!! We just moved from there in January.

I thought moving them to the coop would be OK since it is 99.999% complete, I just wasn't sure if they are old enough.

 

[Ladysonja]

I'm no expert, but I will let you know what DH & I did while finishing up our girls coop.

Question 1: Do you have an extra window screen that you can up on top of the brooder box? My neighbor is currently using tall sided boxes with window screens to keep his girls in the box.

Question 2: As long as your chicks body tempature stays above 70 degrees they will be fine. If your brooder box is getting too hot in one section, move the light up until they run around and sleep in all the lighted spots.

Question 3: I had one small feeder and one small water for 9 babies. I believe you have 25? You should make sure that the babies have plenty of food and water at all times. They do grow fast from week 1 on. I would fill their feeder(s) and water(s) in the morning and early afternoon/evening. I turned my lights off at night and covered their box with a heavy blanket after week 1 until I put them in the coop and they didn't eat durning the night, but munched all day long. Changing the water as often as possible will help keep them hydrated. They will eat a lot... I thought my 9 were going to eat me out of house and home in the beginning, but you do have a lot of growing babies... It's normal.

Last Question: I moved my girls into their coop at 4 weeks old, but here in SE Texas, the night time tempatures have been in the low 70's to 80's and will be for at least another month or so. For your tempatures, I would make sure your coop stays above 70 degrees at night and the babies are at least 4 weeks old.

I hope my answers help.

 

[Shogun99]

I moved all of mine out into their coop on week 4.5 and they're all doing fine. I had to help them figure out what the coop was and orient them to the run, but they're all doing fine. One thing I did was put their food inside the coop and their water outside (hopefully lots of time outside during the day) and its working perfectly. On the first night though, they didn't know that the coop was where they were supposed to go so I put them all in the coop or shoo'ed them up the ramp and then turned on a environmentally friendly 13W lamp. IT DID THE TRICK! By night 3, they didn't even need the night light anymore and now when it gets dark, they go into the coop on their own. I'm happy, they're happy, and everything is as it should be (although the coop needs another fresh coat of paint).

 

[Moriah]

Thanks for all the advice. They now have a new home in a large watermelon box the grocery store had, a bit more room than they had with nice high walls.

Maybe someone here can help. I put the fuzz butts into a smaller box while hubby and I were switching out the boxes, I noticed one of the chicks has little feathers on it's legs. It is the only one that does...so I am wondering if it might be my "free rare" chick. Im going to post a pic. I have no idea what breed it might be, as I didn't think araucana's or EE's have fuzzy legs.

 

[miss_jayne]

go ahead and move them to the coop with the heat from a lamp. i put mine out early and keep a lamp on them, works fine. just do like you would with a box, check and see if they are clumped or spread out to see if you need to drop or raise the lamp.

they'll group together when sleeping and will be just fine.

God bless your flock and hope it works out for you!

where did you order from? that will help for id'ing the chick.

 

[Moriah]

The chicks came from McMurray Hatchery...they've been no help at all at identifying the free chick, as they state they keep no records of what free chick is included in an order.

 

[miss_jayne]

just take a peek at the list of feather footed fancies that they have available and you may be able to i.d.