Running out of room!

[sphillips]

I have 25 1 week old baby chicks (more work then I ever imagined, but I LOVE them!). Anyway, I started them out in a large dog kennel in the house for the first few days as we had a cold snap. This weekend I moved them to two bathtub brooders in the coop. I have 12 in one, and 13 in the other. I think they've outgrown their space, as their brooders are getting really dirty, really fast, and instead of cleaning them once a day, I've had to clean them twice a day, and they seem to get dirty immediately. I'm going to move the dog kennel out to the coop and put some of the chicks in there. I have a feeling this won't be much help for very long. My question is, how soon can I move them to the coop floor, (it's dirt), and get them out of the brooder? I have 6 older chicks (10 wks old) who are separated from the new ones by a wire wall that runs down the center of the coop, so the chicks would be safe. It's getting down to the high 40's, low 50's at night, and of course I'd provide a heat lamp(s) for them still. My concern is coccidia my older chicks were hopping out of their brooder at about 3 weeks, and I just let them run in the coop with access to the brooder and heat lamp at night until they started roosting, but the new ones are still way too small for that I think. My older chicks didn't have any issues with illness. What does everyone recommend I do? I have plenty of room in the coop, but I'm afraid I'm going to run out of brooder space really quick.

 

[ButchGood]

I'd put straw or wood chips down about 4 to 6" deep and let them go. If your worried about the cold hang a heat lamp in the corner of the coop. With all those chicks they'll make a chick pile and keep nice and toasty. Id would just keep them separated from the big chicks for a while. I think your plan will work fine.

 

[SobbaChickens]

 

[sphillips]

Thank you for your reply! I've moved the dog kennel, and will see if I can get them to make it at least one more week. So, should I start them on medicated starter before putting them on the dirt, watch for symptoms of coccidia and then treat, or am I pretty safe as far as coccidia as my first chicks were fine? I have a floor to ceiling chicken wire wall that separates the bigger ones from the babies, so they should be safe as far as that goes.

 

[furbabymum]

Mine are on the coop floor right now. My brooder is technically a table that I keep in the coop/barn with all the other poultry.
There are older guineas in it in this pic but right now I have 18 3 week chicks in it. They've been in it 2 weeks.

 

[sphillips]

Furbabymum - What a creative idea! Maybe my chicks do still have enough room, but I am paranoid about them getting sick. So, I guess to ease my mind, I'll move a few to the kennel, and then next week move them to the coop floor. That in itself will make my life a whole lot easier, as now I'll have 3 brooders to clean instead of two!