New member getting ready for peeps

[darkbyrd]

Hi all! I'm planning now to get my first baby chicks to add to my dad's 3 hens. I'm thinking I will start with 10 chicks. I'm going to build a brooder to raise them in my house, but I don't have alot of space. It sounds like they will be ready to go outside after 6 weeks or so (I live in the foothills of NC, so by the time they go outside we likely won't have temps below the mid-20's at night). How big of a brooder do I need to keep them happy until they are 6 weeks old? In the pictures you can see the roost (metal-roofed building) we have. The bottom row is separated into separate nest boxes. The upper level is open all the way across, with a gap between the walls and the roof, so it will be ventilated to the point of draftiness. Can the chicks handle the draft at that age, with or without a heating lamp? I could also board up some of the top entrances to help hold heat in. I want to fence them in (with the electric netting you see in the pictures) to give them their separate space from the 3 hens. The roosters are kept outside (totally free range, roost in a tree), and only occasionally does one fly in to chase the girls. At what age would they be ready to join the flock already in the (red) coop? Thanks for the help!

EDIT: because I'm a new member I can't post pictures. I have uploaded them. I am going to post this anyway and figure out how they can be viewed.

Captions:
Big rooster and little rooster, stuck together like glue

Two of the three girls, red coop in background

Future teenager hangout?

 

[darkbyrd]

The pictures are posted on my page

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

&

from Michigan

 

[Judy]

Chicks are generally considered fully feathered at 8 weeks when they are ready to go outside. You might be able to push this up a couple of weeks if you take them out often to get used to the weather, don't keep heat on them long, and keep brooder heat at the minimum they will tolerate without piling at night and suffocating the one on the borttom.

However, they really won't be ready to join an adult flock until they are the same size as the adults. They should be put next to the adults but separated by a fence so they can get accustomed to each other. There will be some pecking at least, in any case, as they establish their new pecking order. You can try it sooner if you wish, with supervision, but be prepared to remove anyone who gets any blood on him immediately, or they are likely to peck him to death.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock

 

[darkbyrd]

Wow that was fast! thanks for the advice. If I do wait until 8 weeks to put them in their own run, how large of a brooder will I need inside? I plan to make it out of 2x4s, plywood/osb, and hardware cloth.

 

[thechickenchick]

 

[darkbyrd]

So I just saw in another thread that at 5 wks they need 2 sq ft per chick, and at 8 wks they need 4 sq ft. If they are going outside at 8 wks, would 2 sq ft per chick be enough?