raising day olds in the coop?

[BKVT]

Hi all,
I have been building my coop...since July! and though it is not completely finished, it is functionally finished. So I ordered our family's first day old chicks which will arrive towards the end of the first wk of November. We are in Vermont, and already we have cold nights and mornings (mid 20's). My questions are: 1) if I have a relatively draft free coop and use a heat lamp, can I raise the chicks in the enclosed coop? Is keeping the brooder temp up to 90 easily attainable? 2)we are getting 25 chicks, but hopefully will be keeping only 12-13. can I use a "kiddy" plastic swimming pool as the brooder? will 25 chicks fit in it? I have read a lot of the brooder posts, but am still a bit confused as to the various contraptions that I can use for the baby chicks. Thanks! BYC has already been a huge help (and a huge time suck) for me. Bill

 

[gritsar]

Admittedly we are alot warmer here in Arkansas than y'all are, but I was able to start my chicks outside in a shed (we didn't have their coop finished then) by using an oil-filled electric heater and their heat lamps. That was in early April. Experiment with the the temps. If you have a draft-free coop that you are able to keep at 90 degrees for the first week, there's no reason you would need to start them in the house.
I used the kiddie pool brooder with a draft guard made from PVC and heavy duty plastic. I'll go look for the pic and post it for ya in a few minutes. They did fine space-wise with this brooder for a couple of weeks, but they learned real early how to jump out of the pool. We ended up removing the pool, placing a piece of heavy cardboard under the draft-guard frame and topped that with the shavings.

ETA: Pic of the brooder:

 

[sBrickmanHouse]

We got our first batch of 25 in mid-February, and it was COLD! We put our chicks in the coop outside, but our coop is newly built, draft-free, and about as secure as Fort Knox!

We put two heat lamps in there (in case one burnt out) and made sure the temps stayed where they should be.

The chicks did just fine, and now, 8 months later, are gracing us with chicks of their own.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
90º .... UNLESS you are buried in ICE AND SNOW , 90º is to hot

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
I would suggest you enclose a smaller area to keep warm, or you're going to be struggling to keep the temp up - a small box type thing, where you can keep the heat in with a top on it. You only need 90 degrees for the first few days to a week, and start letting it cooler and cooler after that by 5 or so degrees a week. (no need to be exact on temp - but you need to keep an eye on them!)


You can do it, but it will take some extra effort and preparations.

 

[Home on the Stead]

We're in Minnesota, and got our chicks a few days ago. I set the brooder with a heat lamp up in the coop. It's well insulated and draft free. I have hay bales stacked in front of the door so there isn't a draft when I go in. The heat lamp is low and in the center of the coop. The chicks come and go under the lamp as they need to.

The temp is almost 100 degrees directly under the lamp, and the corners of the coop drop to almost 50 degrees at night. The chicks seem to find their "comfort zone" just fine by moving closer to or away from the lamp.