I have 12 chicks that are almost 3 weeks old. They have been in a brooder in my house, but they are clearly outgrowing it and need more space. They are my first, so I have no adult chickens to worry about. The coop is ready, but we are still finishing the run. It has been 60s/70s during the day and 40s/50s at night. Looking ahead, this weekend should be up to the 70s/80s and next week the nights will be closer to the 60s. Am I okay to move them to the coop now if I keep them inside and continue to use a heat lamp? If so, should I carve out a section of the coop instead of giving them full access? Coop is roughly 6'x10'. My other option would be to split them into two brooders and keep them in the house, but from what I've read it sounds like that may not be a great idea. I don't think I can build a big enough brooder to keep all of them together in the house. I don't want to move them outside too soon if they can't handle it, but I don't want them unhappy from being too crowded. What do you think?
I would recommend you start "hardening them off" as we say in gardening. Start turning off their heat lamp for and hour the first day, 2 the second and so on until you leave their lamp off completely. If they are indoor still they should be fine with no lamp at this point esp after a few days. The trick will be to leave lamp off at night in a place that is similar in temperature. Do you have a garage or other unheated insulted place you can transition them to? By leaving them a night or two in this area with no heat they will be ready to go outside. In all take up to a week to transition their temperatures. Anita Get Down Farm check out our laying hen contest!
We have other outbuildings, but none of them are insulated. I will work on stepping down the heat lamp.
