Raising chicks on grass, no brooder!

[lbfdap21]

Do you think this would work well for poults? I'm getting my first turkey babies in April and want to brood them outside after the first three days.

 

[Hannahnic14]

Do you think this would work well for poults? I'm getting my first turkey babies in April and want to brood them outside after the first three days.

Hmm, I'm not really sure. I don't know anything about turkeys unfortunately

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

Do you think this would work well for poults? I'm getting my first turkey babies in April and want to brood them outside after the first three days.

I raised mine outside my chicken run most of the time. It works.

 

[lbfdap21]

I raised mine outside my chicken run most of the time. It works.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[6BeachChicks]

Hey! That’s MY baby coop! (Now they lay eggs in it)

 

[MysteryChicken]

I use broodies for outside brooding.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

We have a brooder box for overnight, cold, rainy days. The rest of the time, the birds are in a mobile "cage" I built out of PVC and garden netting. At three weeks, they are moved to the barn's grow out pen and its associated outdoor run - they can walk themselves in and out without my assistance at that point.

No heat in the barn.

 

[lbfdap21]

We have a brooder box for overnight, cold, rainy days. The rest of the time, the birds are in a mobile "cage" I built out of PVC and garden netting. At three weeks, they are moved to the barn's grow out pen and its associated outdoor run - they can walk themselves in and out without my assistance at that point.

No heat in the barn.

This is sort of what I am imagining doing. Once grown, the turkeys will pasture graze, but I'm building a turkey tractor for overnight. My plan was to put the brooder with a MHP and smaller penned in area within the tractor for them to roam during the day, but lock them up in the brooder at night. As they get larger, I can expand the space they have access to in the tractor until they are ready to move to the pasture.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

(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!
View attachment 2776677
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?)
View attachment 2776685
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.
View attachment 2776687
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!
View attachment 2776689
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!

That's interesting so they day they hatch or the moment they do they are outside? I am raising chicks come spring and I am very interested in this

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

That's interesting so they day they hatch or the moment they do they are outside? I am raising chicks come spring and I am very interested in this

I have had babys before and always grab the lady that's at the bottom at the pecking order to raise them....because there more docile and they love thinking they are at the of the order with new baby's but I raised in garage....I wonder if they get a separate coop for that how well do you think it would work