I have 4 bantams and 4 regular size chicks now 5 weeks old. I am moving to a small acreage in a few weeks and not able to build their permanent home as yet. They are getting too big for their current brooder and I need to build them something that I can move easily when the time comes. Don't ask why I got the chicks and then decided to move. Let's just say, I put my house up for sale, the new chicks arrived, and now I am moving. Considering how fast they grow....should I build them a large, large brooder type housing or find a small coop that I can move. Do they need nesting boxes right now or can I use temp boxes of some kind to get them used to the idea? A perch or two would also be nice for them. They are getting moved to the porch in the next day or so so that they are out of the house and can get more acclimated to this Florida weather. They will have a heat lamp for the nights and a small fan for the day as the porch gets rather warm in the afternoons. Yep, typical FL weather right now. It can be 85 one day and 95 the next and back again at this time of year here. If I get a small coop for them, I will be able to use it when I get my next batch of chicks next year or to use when one of them might need to be separated due to an illness or injury. I don't like wasting money and I can't dig up the current yard as the people who bought my house may not like that. My yard is privacy fenced but I do get an occasional opossum now and then in the yard...not to mention the hawks that fly around here. Any suggestions on size of either the coop or brooder would also be helpful as they will be in it for a couple of weeks after the move. They will be around 10 weeks old before their perm home is ready. Funny....the house and acreage size is of no consequence....getting their perm home built and ready is first priority! LOL
