New chicken mamma, help with temporary coop!

[MrsToponak]

So we're just starting out with chickens. We had them in a large Rubbermaid tote in the living room and I didn't realize that at just three weeks old they be able to fly out of it. So now I am finding chicks in my living room. We close on our new house in 2 weeks so they have at least three weeks until a coop can be built. We put together a makeshift one in the garage today but now I'm concerned that maybe they won't be warm enough. I am in Western New York are daytime highs right now are 60 and nighttime lows are around 40. They would be in the garage which is sheltered from the weather and I still have their heat light. Do you think this is good enough for 3 week old chicks or should I figure out how to keep them inside still? ?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's how I brood mine in my shed, they will be fine.

 

[Choco Maran]

As long as they have a heat source they will be fine.

 

[azygous]

Don't coddle your chicks. This is a great opportunity to wean them off heat and ready them for living outdoors in a coop.

Being in the garage instead of the house will provide cooler ambient temperatures so they will feather out more quickly than in your living room. At three weeks, the heat source shouldn't be providing any more than 75F directly under it. Use a 100 watt bulb instead of a 250. If you drape a dark cloth between the light and the chicks, they won't have the glare all night. Let it be nice and cool in the rest of their space.

The following week, decrease the heat (raise the bulb) to just 65-70F, and then remove it by the time they're five weeks. By the time you move them into their coop, they will be cold hardened to whatever temps there happen to be, and no heat will be needed.

Keeping chicks heated past four or five weeks is unnecessary and hinders their ability to acclimate to cooler temps.

When you move to your new house, you can make a dandy temporary coop in your new garage using a couple of large cardboard appliance boxes taped together with a pass through cut into the common wall. Line the bottom with 6 mil plastic in case of spills. Stretch cheese cloth over the top to keep them in. This will provide plenty of room until you get the coop and run finished.