Moving 6.5 Week Old Marans Outside

[Mel1986]

I've never posted before, but I can't seem to find an answer in old threads, so I'm trying it out.

We have 24 6-week-old black copper marans that we need to move outside. They are currently in the house in several giant dog crates we've attached together. This is obviously not ideal, but we were supposed to get less than half that many chicks, and the hatchery stuck us with 24 of them. And I would brood them outside, but we have no barn or outside area that would work. So, we're using fleece to line the crates (washing and replacing daily), wiping the crates down with vinegar daily, and vacuuming. There's no furniture in the room they are in, and we've put down drop cloths and run air filters just as precautions, but there's no smell and minimal dust from the cleaning and fleece.

So, we need to move them out. They appear fully feathered, and have been off the heat lamp for over a week, but there are too many of them to take out for field trips, so the best we can do to acclimate them is open the window. Even at night, the temperature in that room does not drop below 70. It's supposed to pour rain this weekend, so we're hoping to move them out on Tuesday. However, it's only supposed to be a high of 62 that day and a low of 50 that night. Is that too much of a difference if they've never experienced anything below 70? We have an Eglu (we have two but will probably use one to start), so it should be sheltered and somewhat insulated.

Thanks in advance--we're pretty desperate for help!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I've never posted before, but I can't seem to find an answer in old threads, so I'm trying it out.

We have 24 6-week-old black copper marans that we need to move outside. They are currently in the house in several giant dog crates we've attached together. This is obviously not ideal, but we were supposed to get less than half that many chicks, and the hatchery stuck us with 24 of them. And I would brood them outside, but we have no barn or outside area that would work. So, we're using fleece to line the crates (washing and replacing daily), wiping the crates down with vinegar daily, and vacuuming. There's no furniture in the room they are in, and we've put down drop cloths and run air filters just as precautions, but there's no smell and minimal dust from the cleaning and fleece.

So, we need to move them out. They appear fully feathered, and have been off the heat lamp for over a week, but there are too many of them to take out for field trips, so the best we can do to acclimate them is open the window. Even at night, the temperature in that room does not drop below 70. It's supposed to pour rain this weekend, so we're hoping to move them out on Tuesday. However, it's only supposed to be a high of 62 that day and a low of 50 that night. Is that too much of a difference if they've never experienced anything below 70? We have an Eglu (we have two but will probably use one to start), so it should be sheltered and somewhat insulated.

Thanks in advance--we're pretty desperate for help!

They are probably old enough and feathered out enough to be put in the coop.

 

[Matzwd]

They should be fine with your current temps and their age.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I would not hesitate to move them....from a "ready" perspective. That said, which eglu model are you using and does it have only the standard "run" eglu sells with the coops? My concern is more with the coop/run from a sufficiency of space and security

 

[newshound]

We just moved 9 peeps outside this week, similar age and conditions. Yesterday was damp, dark and 50s, felt cold to me, but they were good. We had the lights off about 2 weeks. They seem to be doing well.

 

[Mel1986]

Thank you all so much for the swift and reassuring responses!

We have the Eglu cube (so the larger one) with an extended run (13 feet, I think). We also have waterproof/wind proof covers for the runs and perches for a bit more space. We need to assemble it, but if it looks too small, we have two of them, so we can just put 12 birds in each. The hatchery allows us to return the roosters (once we know who is who), so we'll probably end up with around 12 pullets, and we can have 6 per Eglu. In terms of security, they are advertised as "predator proof," but we may also put cinder blocks on the edge of the runs to weigh them down. We might have gone a different route coop-wise if we'd known we were going to have so many of them, but the hatchery sprung that on us when we went to pick them up--after we'd already bought the first Eglu.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Thank you all so much for the swift and reassuring responses!

We have the Eglu cube (so the larger one) with an extended run (13 feet, I think). We also have waterproof/wind proof covers for the runs and perches for a bit more space. We need to assemble it, but if it looks too small, we have two of them, so we can just put 12 birds in each. The hatchery allows us to return the roosters (once we know who is who), so we'll probably end up with around 12 pullets, and we can have 6 per Eglu. In terms of security, they are advertised as "predator proof," but we may also put cinder blocks on the edge of the runs to weigh them down. We might have gone a different route coop-wise if we'd known we were going to have so many of them, but the hatchery sprung that on us when we went to pick them up--after we'd already bought the first Eglu.

At 6.5 weeks, they can likely be sexed now....post some pictures.
The eglu runs are not really predator resistant

 

[feathermaid]

As far as I know, Eglu coops are tiny... 3'x3'. Big enough to house 3 hens, maybe 6 if you free range. Copper Marans are large birds and you may run into a lot of pecking and aggression issues if they don't have enough space.
Here's an article with some guidelines:
How Much Room Do Chickens Need

24 birds would need a coop about 10x8 with attached run, or free range daily. I would suggest downsizing your flock.

*edit* oops didn't see your recent post

 

[rosemarythyme]

The chicks should be old enough to go outdoors. I'd continue to leave the windows to the room open and hopefully that'll be enough to help acclimate them to lower temps.

Bad news is the Eglu's aren't all that big. You said you have the large cube? It's 9 sq ft. That includes nest boxes. It's enough space for 2 birds in each one IMO. Even the manufacturer claims 4-5 large birds will fit in each, so not sure where you're seeing 12 birds will fit in each from.

The largest run is 65 sq ft, so good for up to 6. Not sure how big the openings are in the mesh, but possibly rats, mice and snakes could fit in.

 

[Mel1986]

Yes, we will absolutely not be keeping all 24 birds. I don't know how to handle posting pictures--it's impossible to tell them apart enough to avoid photographing the same one twice. Some have larger combs or whatever, but I can't tell those apart from the others with combs. And I'd never know which picture went to which bird later! The hatchery said not to bother trying to sex them until 12 weeks (though I'm not pleased with the hatchery at this point, so who knows if that's true or just convenient for them).

*Edited to Add: we will not be keeping 12 full-sized birds in each--they are only 6 weeks at this point. We will ultimately keep 6 birds in each Eglu. If that's too many, we will give away hens until they fit!