Need help

[brains]

I have 6 barred rock and 6 golden comet chicks that are about 3-4 weeks old. All seem to be doing well until this morning. My wife called and said one was caught inside the feeder and could not get out. When she did get it out she said something was wrong with her wing.
I came home and all seem fine but it appears some had a water fight, the golden comets were wet around the neck. I went in the brooder which is about 2x4 and cleaned the water but still need to do the cage.
Do they normally try to fly this early, it seems that one will flap their wings and then the rest try to and are running into each other
It still remains cold in ohio but I think I need to move them to a bigger area which would be an unheated garage
Do u have any cheap suggestions? I am working on gathering supplies for their coop and run now
Suggestions?
Thanks
Ed

 

[Wynette]

2' x 4' is definitely not large enough for 12 chicks, 3-4 weeks old. Yes, they'll begin flying around at about 7-10 days, or at least attempting to fly. If they are getting wet, they don't have enough room to flap around. For a temporary fix, try to find a VERY LARGE cardboard box - this is not the safest option, but they MUST have a heat lamp for a few more weeks until they are completely feathered and acclimated to the temperature.

If you can find a very large box (like from an appliance, or maybe even tape 2 medium sized boxes together) and find a way to put something over the top so they don't fly out, that will work temporarily. For the heat lamp, you must suspend it somehow so that it is NOT touching the sides of the box. Put it toward one end so that if they get too warm, they have the option to move to a cooler area. Put your feeders and waterers on something to rais them up to chest height so they don't flip shavings into them.

BEST of luck to you!!

 

[griggy]

We went to the hardware store and got two giant boxes, taped them together and cut a big hole in the middle for them to go through. This worked well for us for several weeks, although I would recommend putting a tarp underneath it in case it gets wet. The chicks DEFINITELY will fly...ours hop on the side of the box and we had to get a window screen to cover it at times because we would find random chickens walking around our laundry room. Luckily they were already off the heat lamp at that point.

 

[brains]

I will have to look for some boxes. Tonight I went out to the garage and started to put the base together for my new coop. I found a bunch of lumber for free on Craig's list. I plan on building a 6x8 coop and then a 4 cattle panel long run attached to the front
Boxes are hard to use because I have two big dogs and a cat that I need to worry about. I wish it would warm up soon I need to get them out of kitchen because the wife is about done with it
Thanks
Ed