Newbie Here are my chicks coop ready?

[Queenofchicks]

Hello I’m Abby, and so I am fairly new to the chicken lifestyle but I have a great support system. I literally have Tractor Supply in my backyard and than my best friend / sister works at a feed store and has chickens of her own! I got day old chicks and now 4 of them are 5 weeks and than I have one that is about to be 4 weeks old. I have 2 Americana chickens, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Cuckoo Maran, and 1 Barred Rocks. I really wanted more blue eggs so the 4 week old is an Americana. Today I picked up their chicken coop and let them play in it for a few hours, and I plan on letting them back there again tomorrow bright and early. My question is, we got a heater/brooder from Tractor Supply and I was wondering if next weekend I could put them in the coop altogether? Or since the one is only 4 weeks should I bring her back in at night until she has more feathers? The other girls have all their feathers and seem to be getting stir crazy in the little cage I have them in. I brought them in tonight to be safe but I’m seeing the weather is staying pretty warm and if I add the heater I have and put them all in there all night starting next weekend will they be okay? I live in Sacramento California so it doesn’t really got all that cold here. I added pictures so you can all see my babies I love them so freakin much and had no idea I could ever love a chicken. Btw... I’m going to do a ton more upgrades to the coop we literally got it today. I plan on making it look pretty and giving them more security and block out the wind a bit more. We added two wood slates where just the one is for now.

 

[wyochick10]

Welcome to the wonderful world of BYC!! You will loads of helpful people and info here! You chicks are adorable and they appear to be feathered out enough to go outside! I usually put mine out at around 4 weeks or so and I live in Wyoming

 

[Queenofchicks]

Welcome to the wonderful world of BYC!! You will loads of helpful people and info here! You chicks are adorable and they appear to be feathered out enough to go outside! I usually put mine out at around 4 weeks or so and I live in Wyoming

Perfect!!! I figured the big girls were I just wasn’t sure about the baby one if she would be okay. I love these little feather babies it’s not even funny. I went into this thinking “EGGS!” Cause I LOVE my best friends eggs and now I’m in love with these dang chickens lol

 

[Emily26]

I'm new to chooks too and live in Australia so guessing a little warmer than other places. I understand your concern about the younger one. I put mine out at 3 and 4 weeks ( I wanted to wait another week but wasn't allowed to keep them in the laundry room any longer!)

I have a mixed flock of an australorp, a light sussex and two silkies. The non-silkies were decently feathered out but the silkies were younger and not so much so I was bit concerned about them. Turns out the other two are happy to cuddle up with them to keep them warm and they're doing really well so actually having older and younger together should help you out!

Also cardboard is a good insulator, I've made a baby coop while temperature is is still a concern out of a carboard box with a door cut in it with a good layer of sawdust on the bottom placed within the main coop. It's cosier than the main coop until they're a bit bigger.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi and welcome yo BYC! I hate to tell you this and I may be wrong, but I think your coop is going to be too small for 5 adult chickens when they're grown. It may look smaller in the picture than it actually is, but chickens need about four square feet per bird in the coop, not counting the nests. . That means your coop needs to be at least 20 square feet, or 4 x 5 feet. If it is that big, please excuse me, but if it's much smaller than that you may have some behavioral issues such as some birds refusing to go into the coop at night, or a lot of pecking and fighting among the birds. Unfortunately, these pre-fab coops are often sold with assurances that they are adequate for up to six birds when in fact they are more appropriate for two or three. I hope this helps.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What are your temperatures? Your chicks can absolutely be moved out at this age but I would wean them completely off heat first, as well as give them a few more days of spending some time outside (for progressively longer periods of time) to transition them to their life outside.

 

[Queenofchicks]

Hi and welcome yo BYC! I hate to tell you this and I may be wrong, but I think your coop is going to be too small for 5 adult chickens when they're grown. It may look smaller in the picture than it actually is, but chickens need about four square feet per bird in the coop, not counting the nests. . That means your coop needs to be at least 20 square feet, or 4 x 5 feet. If it is that big, please excuse me, but if it's much smaller than that you may have some behavioral issues such as some birds refusing to go into the coop at night, or a lot of pecking and fighting among the birds. Unfortunately, these pre-fab coops are often sold with assurances that they are adequate for up to six birds when in fact they are more appropriate for two or three. I hope this helps.

Yes it’s actually 4x7! I made sure before we picked it up it’s a lot bigger than pictures look. My best friend gave me the dimensions, and than we are still gonna extend it more also too and do a few more upgrades! Like I wanna get stuff that will help them be interactive and so forth. But you should of us seen us, we had to get VERY a creative on how to get into my backyard haha

 

[Queenofchicks]

I'm new to chooks too and live in Australia so guessing a little warmer than other places. I understand your concern about the younger one. I put mine out at 3 and 4 weeks ( I wanted to wait another week but wasn't allowed to keep them in the laundry room any longer!)

I have a mixed flock of an australorp, a light sussex and two silkies. The non-silkies were decently feathered out but the silkies were younger and not so much so I was bit concerned about them. Turns out the other two are happy to cuddle up with them to keep them warm and they're doing really well so actually having older and younger together should help you out!

Also cardboard is a good insulator, I've made a baby coop while temperature is is still a concern out of a carboard box with a door cut in it with a good layer of sawdust on the bottom placed within the main coop. It's cosier than the main coop until they're a bit bigger.

I just was reading about the cardboard idea! does the box have to be completely boxed off? Or like the bottom half would be okay?

 

[Queenofchicks]

What are your temperatures? Your chicks can absolutely be moved out at this age but I would wean them completely off heat first, as well as give them a few more days of spending some time outside (for progressively longer periods of time) to transition them to their life outside.

Yeah my husband suggested that we give them a few days just outside and bring them in at night. I just wasn’t sure if this is stressful on them? I attached our temperatures and would love your opinion!

 

[kurby22]

Hello I’m Abby, and so I am fairly new to the chicken lifestyle but I have a great support system. I literally have Tractor Supply in my backyard and than my best friend / sister works at a feed store and has chickens of her own! I got day old chicks and now 4 of them are 5 weeks and than I have one that is about to be 4 weeks old. I have 2 Americana chickens, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Cuckoo Maran, and 1 Barred Rocks. I really wanted more blue eggs so the 4 week old is an Americana. Today I picked up their chicken coop and let them play in it for a few hours, and I plan on letting them back there again tomorrow bright and early. My question is, we got a heater/brooder from Tractor Supply and I was wondering if next weekend I could put them in the coop altogether? Or since the one is only 4 weeks should I bring her back in at night until she has more feathers? The other girls have all their feathers and seem to be getting stir crazy in the little cage I have them in. I brought them in tonight to be safe but I’m seeing the weather is staying pretty warm and if I add the heater I have and put them all in there all night starting next weekend will they be okay? I live in Sacramento California so it doesn’t really got all that cold here. I added pictures so you can all see my babies I love them so freakin much and had no idea I could ever love a chicken. Btw... I’m going to do a ton more upgrades to the coop we literally got it today. I plan on making it look pretty and giving them more security and block out the wind a bit more. We added two wood slates where just the one is for now.

I’m in Sacramento too! Hi neighbor! I too am brand new to chickens and don’t have any advice for you, hoping to see what others have to say but I’m loving having chickens as well, they’re way more fun than I expected! I will say that I wouldn’t risk the 4 week old outside quite yet since the nights are still cooling down to the mid 50s...and that fuzz just doesn’t seem terribly warm—but I am also crazy paranoid and worry all the time so I may be over thinking it some your babies are too cute!