Moving the babies outside this weekend!

[jettgirl24]

We've officially grown out of the brooder! The babies are 6 weeks and will be moving out the coop by the end of the weekend!

That means I have some serious work to do... I guess I was thinking the brooder would be big enough for a couple more weeks but alas, they are starting to get irritated with eachother in there so it's time to go. We were having outside time the other day and they were hanging out by the door of the coop so I decided to let them check it out. They had a ball flapping around in there plucking bugs off of the cobwebs... Guess that means I don't have to clean up for them

My coop is a former dog "kennel" that is built off the side of our garage. The ends and most of the sides are plywood, plus whoever built it put up welded hardware cloth inside of that. I'm guessing the sides actually used to be harware cloth and they enclosed it later on. I just have to throw up two more panels of plywood to finish enclosing the sides, then I'm going to divide coop in half because it's way too big for them right now and I still have to cut out a door on the far side so they can get into their run when they're full blown adults. I'm also going to add some 2x4's to the door frame so that it's a little more secure and I've got to add some lengths of 2x4 or some hardware cloth to the top of the wall because there is a small gap between the wall and the roof. I'll probably go with 2x4's because the gap is exactly 4" and it seems easier and more secure.

Anyway, I'm super excited for the little ones! They're gonna be so happy to have a bunch of room to flap around and act silly

I'll post pics on moving day!!!

 

[CityClucks]

Sounds like you have a great plan - good luck!

 

[felidaet]

Good luck. I moved mine to the coop last year at 6 weeks old. I provided them with a heat lamp at nights for a couple of weeks.

You mentioned that you have a 4" gap to fill. A 2" x 4" is not going to fill it. A 2" x 4" is actually 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". Confusing? Yes.

 

[jettgirl24]

You mentioned that you have a 4" gap to fill. A 2" x 4" is not going to fill it. A 2" x 4" is actually 1 1/2" x 3 1/2"

It actually fits a 2x4 perfectly, it's was just easier to say it that way than to try to explain how lumber sizes aren't actually the size they say they are

 

[samnsuey]

We are too! I'm so excited, but worried for my babies... I got 35 banties..

 

[Rooster1235597]

I will be waiting for pics!

 

[ChickenMama18]

Yeah...me too...pictures!

 

[jettgirl24]

Ugh... Construction has been held up do to a freak wind and rain storm yesterday... I just didn't feel like spending my Sunday soaked to the bone screwing plywood onto the outer wall of the chicken coop.

The upside is that when I went out to see if the interior was getting wet I found that its bone dry and shockingly almost draft free despite missing two 36" wide wall panels! Looks like the babies should stay pretty darn warm in there once it's totally enclosed. It's still pretty wet out but it has moved from downpour to typical Seattle drizzle so I'm planning on finishing the coop and moving them out today or tomorrow at the latest! Can't wait to put up pics, particularly of the gravity feeder my BF and I devised (with a little help from an amused Home Depot guy).

 

[jettgirl24]

Well I'm almost done with the coop, just one more wall panel to put up and one more strip of wood to add to the top of the wall to enclose it nice and tight! I went ahead and divided the coop into about one third of the full size (about 4' x 6'), set up their heat lamp, and put them out there for the evening. I'm going to bring them back in before I go to bed since the coop isn't 100% secure yet but they should be out permanently as of tomorrow! Here are some pics, I'll take some better ones of the coop when it's light out!

The Coop:

Butters, my Orpington roo:

Carmella, my orpinton hen with Rocky the Rock in the foreground:

Eggie, my other Rock being a little nervous and freaked out