moving chicks to barn

[Sheila]

We are planning to make a home for our chicks in an empty stall. Will enclose it to keep everything else out. We are in New England, still cold. The chicks are currently in an unheated building but in a dog crate with a heat lamp. I'd like to move them soon, as it's getting crowded and would make them more comfortable and easier to care for.

Question: At what age, if I use a heat lamp, could I put them in the barn? And would a 250 watt lamp in one part of the stall be enough to keep 25 chicks warm, or would there be too much area that would be too cold. We are thinking of making a temporary lowered ceiling of pink foamboard, about three feet high, putting the light through that, and building some low roosts around the perimeter. We can also line the stall with loose hay for them to retreat to. We would have shavings on the floor.

Would like feedback from those who have moved chicks into a more rugged situation like this at a young age, e.g., one to two months. Thanks.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

This is the brooder I have in my barn. It is 3 ft. X 5 ft. I use feed bags to lay over the top this time of year and have a clear shower curtain that hangs on the front. There are two heat lamps with 240 Watt bulbs in them. Once they have grown enough to not need heat, they move to a horse stall where they grow out and their final destination is set.

I move chicks to this brooder when they 1 week old. In fact, I will be moving some in there tomorrow. If you want to put them in a horse stall you should make a smaller area that is draft free cardboard walls work great. Make it in a circle so they can not get stuck in a corner and I would use 2 250 Watt bulbs. Because if the one burns out, they will freeze fast.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

You are suppose to start at 100 degrees and go down 5 degrees per week. So if they are 1 month old, they should be in 80 degree area. If they are 2 months old, 60 degree area, etc.

I think the important thing is no draft but good ventilation.

Does that help?

 

[Sheila]

Good pics. Mine are nearly a month now and feathering out nicely. Just got back from the barn, where we stapled chicken wire to the open tops of the stall walls. We are colder here, and the 250 bulb we have been using in the brooder heats only the area under it to the recommended temp. We covered the large dog crate with pink rigid foam and cut a hole to that the lamp fit into that space. It has worked fine, but I'd like to get them into something where I could give them more water and bedding.

The last batch were born in July, but I've never started chicks this early before. The plan is to have them ready for pasture when the snow melts, which with any luck will be in April.