I think my four chicks range in age from 4-5 weeks, but am open to expert opinion on that, if they may be a little older. They are getting stir-crazy in their brooder (large Rubbermade storage bucket about 20"x30", so just barely a square foot each) and I'm not seeing much aggression, fortunately, but they are desperate to get out. We let them out to stretch once or twice a day and they hate going back in. I'm in California so it's very mild but with summer fog it's dipping down into the 50s at night, up to the 70s in the day. Do they have enough feather cover to move into the coop this weekend (in 3 or 4 days) or should I wait another week for the younger ones? (See the two in front in the top pic; Buff Orpington is just losing her last head fluff now.) Based on their behavior I removed the heat lamp a few days ago and am giving them time to get used to (unheated) room temperature that dips to 60 and they seem fine, not huddling. They won't get much sun to speak of outdoors, though, coop is under a tree.
Based on advice on here and other chicken sites, I think I should block off their nest boxes for a few months, and keep them in their coop (kit-built raised chicken house with small, secure run) for a couple weeks before letting them into their larger daytime run area. Does that sound good?
And last but not least, these guys were purchased by my sister at a feed store across the bay. As hatchery chicks I assume they are vaccinated for Marek's but don't know about cocci, so their first bag of food was medicated. However, my hippy "biofuel/urban farming" feed store in Berkeley sneers at medicated chick starter and doesn't carry it. Their organic locally produced starter is higher protein and results in healthy-looking poop consistency, AND is cheaper, so I've been feeding that for about a week. Should I leave them on it when they move out and hope for the best, or reintroduce medicated feed for awhile until they acclimate to outdoor dirt?
Thanks so much for your time, guys!!
Based on advice on here and other chicken sites, I think I should block off their nest boxes for a few months, and keep them in their coop (kit-built raised chicken house with small, secure run) for a couple weeks before letting them into their larger daytime run area. Does that sound good?
And last but not least, these guys were purchased by my sister at a feed store across the bay. As hatchery chicks I assume they are vaccinated for Marek's but don't know about cocci, so their first bag of food was medicated. However, my hippy "biofuel/urban farming" feed store in Berkeley sneers at medicated chick starter and doesn't carry it. Their organic locally produced starter is higher protein and results in healthy-looking poop consistency, AND is cheaper, so I've been feeding that for about a week. Should I leave them on it when they move out and hope for the best, or reintroduce medicated feed for awhile until they acclimate to outdoor dirt?
Thanks so much for your time, guys!!