Moving into coop/run

[CBinTN]

We are moving out 4 week baby chicks to their coop/run and have another question.
With them being little still, will they make there way up the ramp into the coop or will we have to move them up there at night time? Or will they know to go up there? They have been kept in the garage so far. We will have the heat lamp in the coop.

Thanks again!

 

[Latestarter]

Keep them locked up inside the coop for a week or so till they recognize it as home. Then when you open access to the run for them, they'll enter from inside the coop... home... and hopefully they'll return there at dusk. You may still have to collect them up and put them inside depending on if they are physically able to handle the ramp, etc.

If by your handle, you are located in TN, they don't need a heat lamp and it is very dangerous to have a heat lamp in a coop for the fire hazard it creates. Chickens create a LOT of dander/dust and it is very flammable. In addition, they can get burned themselves from coming into contact with it.

 

[aart]

Agrees, no heat lamp needed in coop...at 4 weeks they should be off heat.
If you haven't weaned them off the heat lamp, start now.
Knowing more about the heat situation and their behaviors could garner more specific advise.

I've used a huddle box to transition from heater to not and from brooder to coop,
might have to 'convince' them to use it:


Make them a 'huddle box', put it in the brooder after turning off the heat(you might have to 'persuade' them to use it) then move it out to the coop with them.

Cardboard box with a bottom a little bigger than what they need to cuddle next to each other without piling and tall enough for them to stand in.

Cut an opening on one side a couple inches from bottom and big enough for 2-3 of them to go thru at once.

Fill the bottom with some pine shavings an inch or so deep.

This will give them a cozy place to sleep/rest, block any drafts and help hold their body heat in.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Will they make their way up the ramp? I don't know what it looks like but at 4 weeks it pretty much depends on whether they want to or not. I've seen 2 week old chicks easily fly over 3 feet and they could have gone a lot more if they wanted to. So if yours want to be in the coop they will get there, whether they walk up the ramp or just fly up. They are more likely to fly down that walk down based on what I've seen. Mine often walk up.

I move chicks 5 weeks old to my grow out coop a coupe of times a year. It's elevated about 2 feet off the ground. I used to keep them in the coop section only for a week or more before letting them into the run, but they were pretty consistent in trying to go to sleep under the pop door on the ground, not in the coop. I wind up going down there at dark and physically move them into the coop for the night. I have had some broods go into the coop the next night on their own at dark, I've had some that took me putting them in there every night for three weeks before the last went in. I typically have about 20 chicks in each brood. What often happens is that two or three days after I start putting them in at dark a few go in. That slowly increases until maybe a week to 10 days after I start the last are going in. Each brood is different though.

I don't know what will happen to yours if you lock them in for a week. Some of that will depend on the personalities of your individual chicks. Some may depend on what your coop, ramp, and run look like. It can be a bit frustrating at times but with patience you can manage.

 

[CBinTN]

Thank you all for the advice and tips! We appreciate it. We definitely will not put the heat lamp in the coop! I think we'll assist them into the coop at night time if they don't make their way up there and allow them to adjust to the run. I think we are worrying to much and putting to much thought into it.

 

[aart]

I think we are worrying to much and putting to much thought into it.

Ehhh...IMO, it's better to ask too many questions, than not enough

 

[Ridgerunner]

Aart and I can help you overthink things, we are both really good at that. But never stop thinking and never be afraid to ask a question, if you don't know you don't know. We all have to start somewhere.