Raising chicks on grass, no brooder!

[Hannahnic14]

(Edit: I did find 1 other thread about brooding outside) I can't seem to find many articles on this topic in the forum anywhere so I thought I would share my experience! This may be a no brainer for some but with everything and everyone everywhere talking about raising in brooder boxes this was an epiphany for me! So far we have raised close to 100 chicks, all in the traditional way with a brooder box inside our garage. I got a batch of cochin and silkie bantams about a week ago and I thought I would start an experiment. I have put them outside in a small modified tsc coop instead of in a brooder box. I figured that when they are hatched with their mom, they are out on grass from day 1, so why tweak nature??

We call it our nursery coop!
We had to add some ventilation and lift up the roof cap an inch or 2 in order to get some circulation going but other than that we didn't have to do anything to it. The run section is perfect for teeny tinys!

As you can see they do have a brooder plate for a few weeks since we are in the 70's at night. (Although they don't seem to use it much?)

I am moving the coop every few days or so for fresh grass. I only have 8 chicks so they should be able to live here until they are big enough to incorporate into my bantam flock.

This is a HUGE space for them since they are so tiny and they love it!! They get fresh grass, bugs, sunshine, all the good stuff!

One night we were supposed to get rain so I did move them into the coop part for the night. I do leave the ladder down so they can climb on it and strengthen their leg muscles.

Take away points:
I have had NO losses, sick chicks, or failure to thrive.
Not a single case of pasty butt!
They were much more active from day one than the ones I raised in the brooder.

No one may be interested in this but I thought I would share just in case some one did!
Please don't tell me all the things I've done wrong with this......my chicks are happy, safe and healthy and that's what matters.
I understand that this can't be done in the winter, and not everyone would be able to do this or have a separate coop just for this purpose.

Any questions please ask!

 

[Mamatomany123]

I raise my chicks in a similar way. I section off a part of my run for them to be in during the day then put them in their section of the coop at night. (Only my summer chicks though). It helps a ton with integration. Usually by 3-4 weeks I have them fully integrated.

 

[alwaystj9]

I think it is neat! I have a night brooder and a day(outside) brooder but I let them get to about 1 week old before I start putting them out. This years chickies were a little more restricted due to the incredible amounts of rain. I am not comfortable with the brooder plate & extension cord in the wet weather and worry about flash-fried biddies....

It keeps the chickie's cleaner as I scoot the outdoor cage round and they are only in the other 1/2 the time. Less boredom and I think they are stronger & tougher. Makes the transition to the teen-chick coop easier, too.

 

[Hannahnic14]

I think it is neat! I have a night brooder and a day(outside) brooder but I let them get to about 1 week old before I start putting them out. This years chickies were a little more restricted due to the incredible amounts of rain. I am not comfortable with the brooder plate & extension cord in the wet weather and worry about flash-fried biddies....

It keeps the chickie's cleaner as I scoot the outdoor cage round and they are only in the other 1/2 the time. Less boredom and I think they are stronger & tougher. Makes the transition to the teen-chick coop easier, too.

I agree with the crazy rain and fried little nuggets!
We are using an outdoor extension cord and the parts that plug together the brooder plate and the cord are tucked safely away into the covered coop. the other end is plugged into my bantam coop nearby, also safe from the weather!

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

I raise them on grass from day one. In the winter they have a mama (they do any way usually).

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Very cute and great job!

 

[emily_snow707]

I do this too. We have an old rabbit cage beside our chicken coop that we put broody hens into hatch babies.

 

[Salixx]

I’ve been doing something similar with my most recent group of chicks (ages 2-5weeks). The brooder is in the chicken run and the front is nearly 100% hardware cloth so they’ve grown up with regular contact with the older birds I have (13-15 weeks). Last week I added a pop door to the brooder and a mini run so they can come and go as they please during the day with further exposure to the older birds. They have access to a heat plate, mostly for the 6 two week olds I impulse bought. Prior to then I had turned the plate off because the 4-5 week old have feathered out really well.

It has been a much more pleasant raising experience compared to the traditional brooder I first did with my first chicks. These guys have grown well and feathered much faster. Next week I am hoping to have them, at least the 4-5 week olds, out with the main flock. The two GLW cockerels have already escaped into the greater run s couple times. Some pecking from the older birds but nothing relentless. One of my poor Dutch bantam girls tried to establish dominance and lost to one of those 5 week old chicks… it’s already taller than her .

All of them have to be out before the first week of September - I need it for some ducklings coming from Metzer. The youngest ones may have to live in a dog crate in the coop but I hope they will be large and old enough by then that they’ll be fine.

 

[svh]

I put 8 - 3 day old chicks under a broody, in the main coop, with a dozen other adult hens, and within 1 1/2 days, she had them all out of the coop and in the run on grass and gravel !

I too noticed they are thriving extremely well, with no pasty butt or cocci. They are very active and happy, with zero integration problems.

Good luck !

 

[MadamContrary]

I use the same coop for brooding, I do keep them indoors for the first 3 days just to be sure everyone is eating and drinking well and then out they go!