Moved Two Week Old Chicks to Mini Coop Today

[hsk1977]

Our 7 chicks are 15 days old today, and they were already outgrowing their 40-gallon tote. The last few days they were flying to the edge whenever I took the lid off and with the heat we are having in north Mississippi, they were starting to pant today.

I decided it was probably best to go ahead and move them to their little coop I bought for them to grow out in. They are still in our shop and have a tarp and pine shavings on the floor.

They were nervous at first but now are exploring and running/flying around and seem to enjoy the extra space and ventilation.

Should they be ok in here or is there such a thing as too much space when they are still this young? They are only in the run part. I have the coop door closed. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is that they get excited and start darting around and running/flying into each other and everything in there. I feel like they are just excited about having the space to move now though.

Once they are fully feathered, I will be moving this little coop out into our run so they can be with our 4 older hens and they can start getting used to each other safely. Our run is fully enclosed with hardware cloth, including 12” out all the way around.

 

[rosemarythyme]

How hot is it in the shop? Cooler than wherever you had it before I assume, since you mentioned they were showing signs of overheating previously.

No it's not too much space. I let 2-week-olds have full coop and run access (500+ sq ft) once they prove to me they know how to run away from adults.