New here and needing advice please...

[bakersdozenmama]

Hi everyone,

I have 13 chicks that were hatched on 11/11/14. They've been in a plastic bin in our basement stairwell living the tropical life with the brooder lamp and a temp currently in the mid 70s outside the light.
The issue is that they are really starting to outgrow their current arrangement. They are crowded and starting to bully each other a bit. The next step is the garage in a set up there. The issue is that the garage is currently at 38 degrees. With the brooder light, can I move them out there and will they be okay or should I wait another week or so. (They are really getting stinky too.)

We have four Americaunas, four New Hpshire Reds, two Barred Rocks, and three Black Sex-linked. The all have feathers with just a little baby down left on the Black sex-linked.

Any advice I can get as soon as possible would be fantastic.
Thanks so much!!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

At this age, your chicks should be kept at a temperature around 75 degrees. If the brooder lamp can keep them that warm when they are beneath it, even though the ambient temperature is 38 degrees, they should be fine.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Move them out now. Mine go out as they come out of the hatcher as long as it's above 20 outside. But once they're a month old, with a heat source, they're fine. A mother hen doesn't heat all ambient air. She provides a warm spot and lots of cool space. We do the same with a heat lamp.

It's cold in the buildings in the pictures.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock!! Great advice there from the above posters. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ks-the-first-60-days-of-raising-baby-chickens This is also a good article on raising chicks for the first 60 days has lots of good information. Hope you find it useful and enjoy BYC

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Since they are getting so cramped, they would be better off outside now. But take your heat lamp out there too. Place it a couple feet above their area and they will use it when they need it. Leave it set up like this for a couple weeks and eventually they probably won't need it at all.

Good luck and stay warm!! Welcome to our flock!

 

[ChickyChickens]

Welcome to BYC!!! The members here are great and so are their chickens

!!! This is the BEST CHICKEN KEEPING FORUM ON EARTH!!!!

Hope you have fun and if you need anything we are here to help!!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

 

[bakersdozenmama]

Thank you all for your responses. I moved them out to the garage and they seem just fine. The heat lamp is doing its job.

I'll probably move them into their coop in a week or so. I still have a little bit of work to do on the coop. Just need the roofing on the outer portion and then two portions of wire screening. Purchasing the chicks was the motivator for doing that last bit.

My family had chicken when I was five. My sons are 6 and 3. We go through a ton of eggs and I thought this would be a great way to save money and give the boys a great life skill for the future.

I actually got design for the coop off this site. Photos of a coop and I went from there. It was fun to build and will be fun to watch the chickens grow up and become part of our little family--two cats, two dogs, two kids , and thirteen chickens!

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. I'm glad your chicks are all doing well. I'm not sure what kind of wire screening you are planning on putting on your coop, but if you have any predators at all in your area (including dogs and cats), I would use hardware cloth (not chicken wire or screen) as it is predator proof. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in finishing your coop.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You won't save money on eggs. My local grocer has them for 99 cents a dozen now. It costs more than that for the big producers to make eggs. The grocer sells for below cost to get people to come in and buy baking supplies they sell for profit. I would never recommend someone get chickens to save money unless they live in a climate and have pristine pasture the chickens can get the bulk of their nutrition from.
You will, however, have a great experience and if done right, get better nutrition than from the 99 cent eggs.

As for the coop - git-er-done!