New chicken owner- brooder box question

[Slcarls80]

Hello!
I have 5 - 4wk old chicks in a 50gal rubbermaid tote. I'm wondering if it's ok to keep them in it for another 2 weeks or should I expand on it?
Thanks so much!!

 

[tpatricco]

Hello!
I have 5 - 4wk old chicks in a 50gal rubbermaid tote. I'm wondering if it's ok to keep them in it for another 2 weeks or should I expand on it?
Thanks so much!!

Our girls (6) outgrew the plastic tote brooder quickly - we transferred them into a 2 medium size dog crate brooder next so they had room to move around and 1 crate was just for play and the other had the Brinsea heat plate and their food + water in it. At about 6 weeks old we moved them and the brooder setup into the coop (2 weeks ago) - after 1 week we removed the play crate and left just one crate with door removed and the heat only at night for them. They are doing great so far and soon will be ready to just have the coop with no brooder - thinking we'll remove it this weekend. I'm in NJ and we are still having occasional nights in the 40's - yesterday morning it was 53 degrees in the coop. This morning 68...so highly variable.

I think the more space you can give them the happier they'll be. Ours were practicing their flying back and forth across the two dog crates - it was clear they wanted more room to move.

 

[Slcarls80]

I do have a couple dog crates, but I'm afraid of mice getting in with them.... if there are any, we have them in the basement right now. I think I'm going to have to craft something together for them very soon

 

[Peppercorngal]

Do you have a permanent place for them yet? They are old enough to be in an outdoor run with a heat light at night only. Chicks at a month old need no heat during the day unless you are in Alaska or someplace cold like that. The more space they have the happier they will be and the better they will get along with one another. If you haven't worked on an outdoor run and coop for them, it's time to get busy, they grow up very quickly!

 

[Slcarls80]

Do you have a permanent place for them yet? They are old enough to be in an outdoor run with a heat light at night only. Chicks at a month old need no heat during the day unless you are in Alaska or someplace cold like that. The more space they have the happier they will be and the better they will get along with one another. If you haven't worked on an outdoor run and coop for them, it's time to get busy, they grow up very quickly!

I do have their coop for them just finishing up the run!

 

[rosemarythyme]

If the coop is completely done, you can think about moving them out there pretty soon. Just keep them locked inside until the run is finished.