Question about raising chicks outdoors

[Chad Brantly]

I got some day old chicks yesterday. Today I built a brooder pen inside my coop and moved them outside. I just wanted to check with the smart people here and make sure I wasn’t making a big mistake. Here are some pictures of my coop and the new brooder pen. Let me know what you guys think. I hung a heat lamp for tonight but I think tomorrow I will try to make a mama heating pad I read about on another thread. I am in West Texas so the temps are pretty mild (lows in the 40s, highs in the 70s right now). I think they will be ok, but I wanted to get y’alls approval!

I also included a picture of the babies in the indoor brooder that I took last night. Unfortunatey the Barred Plymouth Rock did not live through the night her first night home, but the other 7 seem to be doing great. Just found her dead and away from the heat lamp this morning when we woke up.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Looks great!

 

[Blooie]

What a great setup! I'm jealous!! I don't think you're making a mistake, but remember it's about YOUR comfort zone, not mine. I raised my chicks outdoors in a wire pen in the run here in Northwestern Wyoming when our temps were in the twenties and dropped down into the teens, using nothing but Mama Heating Pad. We'd get 40-60 mph winds and sideways blowing snow. They did great.

I would only make one suggestion, and it has nothing to do with your setup or your plans. See that water under their waterer? Yeah, they can sure chill fast from that. If you can, you might think about using a plastic container with nipples. Much less messy, no risk of the chicks drowning in it, and no risk of them kicking dust and poop into it. I start mine out with the vertical nipples in a small container until I know they are able to trip the mechanism and have the hang of it. After a week or so of being sure they're drinking, I clean it out, put it away, and give them a container with horizontal nipples. They adapt almost immediately. Vertical nipples are great for teaching them how to utilize water this way, but they drip! Chicks bump into them with their heads and backs, and when they take a drink the nipples always to seem drip several more drops out. So the bedding underneath still gets damp. <sigh> I resolved that by putting a glass candle lid under the nipples with some of those little glass stones for flower arranging in it. Drips went into that, and the chicks that were having a little trouble with the nipples could still get a drink from between the little glass rocks. Oh, sure, I had to take it out and rinse it clean from time to time, but that still beats the heck out of cleaning out all that wet bedding! I'll have to look, but if you're interested I think I can find a photo of a little Silkie standing on my kitchen counter in one of the candle lids so you can see what I mean. She was just there for individual chick photos ops!

Love your setup! Keep us posted on how they do!

 

[Chad Brantly]

Thanks, Blooie. I actually have a bag of those vertical nipples. I’ll see if I can come up with a container and make them something today. Everyone survived the first night, so I think this will work out well. This site is a great resource.

 

[Blooie]

I found that photo of my little Silkie with the glass candle lid.