BeccaLynne78
In the Brooder
- Jun 3, 2019
- 4
- 9
- 34
Hi, I have 11 chicks. I started w/ 9, but a friend of mine's chicken was taken by a fox, so I adopted the two baby chicks- they were a week old when mine were 2 weeks, but they seemed to integrate well.
I moved the chicks into their coop at 4 weeks old. We built a 12' x 12' run, 3' tall. I raised chicks a year ago with my boyfriend, but had much more land to let them roam. But now- raising these chicks, when it is time to get them in they won't hear of it. My run is pretty safe and well built, but I do live in a rural area and do not want them to get hurt by a predator. I think that I allowed them to go out in the run at too early of an age; perhaps they think it is their house...? Today they are around 6 1/2 weeks old- yet I have to climb in the coop and place each one of them through the plexiglass opening door to the coop... They sit against the plexiglass, or try to get back out! If I'm not fast enough to get the door closed, out they come back in the run and I get to do it all over again. (How I wish that we built the run taller...)
When we raised the chicks last year, I would ring a bell and give them a little treat (thank you, Pavlov!) which seemed to work well. And I pretty much fill the water and food when it gets low, so there isn't really a specific time that I feed them.
I keep their food and water inside the coop right now as I am trying to make them come in and feel comfortable, (and a large waterer outside in the run under the overhang,) and it is cool enough in this humidity as the middle of the bottom of their coop has a 3' x 4' hardwire cloth piece inset to allow some breeze to get in there. It has been between 75 and 95 degrees out here in RI, so their heat lamp hasn't been on; I actually almost got them a fan!
Please, any advice would be very much appreciated. The chicks are Barred Rocks, Buff Orphingtons, a Swedish Flower hen, as well as a couple other rare breeds and the two orphaned babies which we have no idea what they are (they are a week younger, yet bigger than the rest- I imagine some type of a meat bird? They are black with feathers on their feet; well especially the one that is definitely a rooster; it's legs are much thicker and it has started to make "crowing" noises already.)
I just want to know that my teen chicks will come in to the safety of their coop at dusk, and that I can let them in and out of the run. If I can't trust them to go in their coop at night, how the heck am I going to allow them to come OUT of the run and free range? Someone told me that I need to get them all back in the coop and keep them in there for a few days straight- so not to let them in the run AT ALL. Even though it is a large coop, I am just nervous that they will start fighting after being stuck together so close- they are already going up to each other and trying to figure out the "pecking order". Any advice on what I should do? Thank you
I moved the chicks into their coop at 4 weeks old. We built a 12' x 12' run, 3' tall. I raised chicks a year ago with my boyfriend, but had much more land to let them roam. But now- raising these chicks, when it is time to get them in they won't hear of it. My run is pretty safe and well built, but I do live in a rural area and do not want them to get hurt by a predator. I think that I allowed them to go out in the run at too early of an age; perhaps they think it is their house...? Today they are around 6 1/2 weeks old- yet I have to climb in the coop and place each one of them through the plexiglass opening door to the coop... They sit against the plexiglass, or try to get back out! If I'm not fast enough to get the door closed, out they come back in the run and I get to do it all over again. (How I wish that we built the run taller...)
When we raised the chicks last year, I would ring a bell and give them a little treat (thank you, Pavlov!) which seemed to work well. And I pretty much fill the water and food when it gets low, so there isn't really a specific time that I feed them.
I keep their food and water inside the coop right now as I am trying to make them come in and feel comfortable, (and a large waterer outside in the run under the overhang,) and it is cool enough in this humidity as the middle of the bottom of their coop has a 3' x 4' hardwire cloth piece inset to allow some breeze to get in there. It has been between 75 and 95 degrees out here in RI, so their heat lamp hasn't been on; I actually almost got them a fan!
Please, any advice would be very much appreciated. The chicks are Barred Rocks, Buff Orphingtons, a Swedish Flower hen, as well as a couple other rare breeds and the two orphaned babies which we have no idea what they are (they are a week younger, yet bigger than the rest- I imagine some type of a meat bird? They are black with feathers on their feet; well especially the one that is definitely a rooster; it's legs are much thicker and it has started to make "crowing" noises already.)
I just want to know that my teen chicks will come in to the safety of their coop at dusk, and that I can let them in and out of the run. If I can't trust them to go in their coop at night, how the heck am I going to allow them to come OUT of the run and free range? Someone told me that I need to get them all back in the coop and keep them in there for a few days straight- so not to let them in the run AT ALL. Even though it is a large coop, I am just nervous that they will start fighting after being stuck together so close- they are already going up to each other and trying to figure out the "pecking order". Any advice on what I should do? Thank you
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