Out of the house and in the coop!!! PICS Added!

[NickyPick]

The chicks were just fine in the house until they passed 5 weeks. Somehow, this last week they smelled more and made more noise. Then, yesterday, they figured out how to remove the cover on the brooder and were starting to get out and explore! I stopped with the heat lamp about a week ago and the house routinely gets below 70 at night. I figured since outside temps were now in the mid 60's at night, they would be fine in the coop with the windows closed.
They were pretty scared when I first put them in there - crowded around me, but then some noticed the late afternoon sun streaming through the window and the urge for a sunbath overcame the nervousness for a while. I left them for a while to deal with a training session for one of the horses, then went back to the coop with their afternoon treat (scrambled eggs, oats and yogurt). At first, they bolted when I opened the door, but as soon as they heard the "chick chick chick treat!" call, they swarmed me as usual. I'm pretty sure they slept in a pile last night as the new roosts don't have any poop on them yet as of this morning. I also am sure they are LOVING the more space! The run should be finished in a day or so and we should be opening the pop door this weekend.

I wonder how long they're going to stare at the open door before someone gets brave enough to come outside?!

 

[NickyPick]

Guess I'll just keep on talking to myself. Anyway, yesterday afternoon, my Mom and I went to give the chicks their treat, check on them and visit for a while. This time, they didn't run from the door opening at all and as soon as I called out "chick chick chick treat!", they swarmed me! I sat down by the door and Mom sat in a chair next to me. After eating their plate of spaghetti, The Rock seemed very interested in the open door. He would cran (hmm, word doesn't look right) his neck over my legs and look out. Raised a fuss when I picked him up, tho. Then one of the BO pullets came over and started vigorously pecking on my close. She didn't fuss when I picked her up, just started looking curiously at my face! Whoops! no pecking allowed there! She seemed very interested in this pesky fly that kept flying around us, so when it landed on Mom's knee, I slowly stretched her out to it. She noticed it immediately and it was bye bye fly. Such a good girl.

I'm going to try to upload some pics of them in the coop this afternoon. I think they really love it - especially all the extra room.

 

[cheri222]

Wish our night time temps were in the 60's, I have 8 in the house and yes they stink. Still in the 30's and getting snow off and on.

 

[momof2monkeys]

Last night it was 72 degrees here! I'm ready for my babies to get our too! My problem is that I have some big girls and I don't want the little girls to get picked on. So, I've made an A-frame Chick Chalet for them to be safe in while they are in the big girls run. I just need to finish the door and paint it and then no more smelly chicks in the house!

I think I'll have one more week with my peeps inside.

 

[taprock]

It took my chicks a long time before they dared venture out the door. They were perfectly content to stay in. I wish my little ones could go to the coop but I think it is still too cold for them, it is still below freezing at night. But they are big and they are smelly!

 

[NickyPick]

Ok, here's the pictures. They really wanted to hang close to me on that first day.

Drama shot!

Wide view - grouped closed to my Dad. I'm sitting on the roost (which was still clean as none had climbed up on it yet)

Then, finally they started checking out the roost

The run should be finished tomorrow, so we'll see how long it takes them to brave coming out the chicken door into their yard.

 

[craziechick]

Looks like they are adjusting well! Cute bunch you have there, good luck with them.

 

[Sassafras]

Did they try to "fly and flap" in the coop? I bet they love all the open space now that they are used to it. I should be finished with my run tomorrow and start on the coop remodel. Mine are 2 weeks today.

 

[NickyPick]

Oh, there was a lot of flapping. I had to discard a lot of pictures for all the dust motes obscuring everything! I figure when they get older, we'll drop the front roost and add a higher one. I'd like for the top roost to be near the window.