summer time -- when to move chicks from brooder to coop and some other questions

[iPeanut1990]

I have not ordered my peeps yet but I'm hoping to be able to order 4 RIR chickies and their coop and run in the next few weeks. I have their brooder set up already. It's a big 54 gal rubbermaid tub with aspen shavings and a lamp. Just have to buy food and a feeder and waterer still.

I live in Oklahoma so it gets pretty hot and humid here during the summer. I know chicks like heat but how hot is too hot? It's anywhere from 80-100+ not including heat index and humidity. I was planning on moving them into the coop around 5 or 6 weeks old but I don't want to fry my little babies.

Do I need to provide grit for my chicks or not until they're older? I'm planning on feeding them Dumor chick starter/grower. Should I add probiotics to their water after I first get them or only of any of them have pasty butt? I've also heard people give them plain yogurt. Would I just add a few spoonfuls in a shallow dish?

Also can anyone recommend a good thermometer or weather station? I'd like to put something inside the coop so I know if I need to adjust the ventilation.

 

[WilhelminaD]

So, I'm a new chicken keeper myself and I'm not terribly familiar, but here's what I know and/or am doing (also, I'm really interested in hearing about moving them to the coop in the heat - it gets hot here in summer, too).

I added probiotics and electrolytes for the first week. After that I have given them fresh water with a dash of Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar (the kind with the mother in it). If you feed them anything other than the starter feed (greens, mealworms, etc.) you also need to give them chick grit or they won't be able to digest it.

I don't know how to give them yogurt and would love to hear what other people have done. I tried it and all I got was chicks with yogurt on their feet! They ran through it and didn't even try to examine it as a food source.

Good luck! It's terrifying and thrilling and a joy to raise chicks - at least for me so far.

 

[iPeanut1990]

So, I'm a new chicken keeper myself and I'm not terribly familiar, but here's what I know and/or am doing (also, I'm really interested in hearing about moving them to the coop in the heat - it gets hot here in summer, too).

I added probiotics and electrolytes for the first week. After that I have given them fresh water with a dash of Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar (the kind with the mother in it). If you feed them anything other than the starter feed (greens, mealworms, etc.) you also need to give them chick grit or they won't be able to digest it.

I don't know how to give them yogurt and would love to hear what other people have done. I tried it and all I got was chicks with yogurt on their feet! They ran through it and didn't even try to examine it as a food source.

Good luck! It's terrifying and thrilling and a joy to raise chicks - at least for me so far.

Thank you!! Great advice! Anyone else have any input as well?

 

[donrae]

Don't brood them in the house, just brood them in the coop from day 1. Chicks in the house cause a ton of dust all over the place, including in your lungs

It's easy to section off a part of the coop and run a cord for a heat lamp. It's most important for the chicks to have room to regulate their own temperatures, moving out from under the heat lamp as they need to.

You say you're ordering a coop--you might want to re-think that, or post what you're looking at and see if anyone here has input. So, so many of those mail order coops are so flimsy and poorly made, plus they're way to small for the number of birds they claim to hold. For 4 Red hens you'll need a minimum of 16 square feet of coop space and 40 square feet of run space.

 

[iPeanut1990]

Don't brood them in the house, just brood them in the coop from day 1. Chicks in the house cause a ton of dust all over the place, including in your lungs 

It's easy to section off a part of the coop and run a cord for a heat lamp. It's most important for the chicks to have room to regulate their own temperatures, moving out from under the heat lamp as they need to. 

You say you're ordering a coop--you might want to re-think that, or post what you're looking at and see if anyone here has input. So, so many of those mail order coops are so flimsy and poorly made, plus they're way to small for the number of birds they claim to hold. For 4 Red hens you'll need a minimum of 16 square feet of coop space and 40 square feet of run space. 

Thanks! I might do that since it should be just about warm enough outside for them anyway. It's gotten hot fast this year.

 

[Blooie]

Donrae is absolutely right about the coop. Nobody likes tossing cold water on someone's plans, but if you didn't want to give your birds the best of care you wouldn't have been studying the forums and asking questions, right?

We ordered the "Little Red Barn" coop. It looked like it was a really good size, and fit in with our property here in town. There were no reviews on the site where we placed the order. I started poking around the day after we ordered and found reviews outside of the purchase site, and I was not happy with what I read. "Flimsy", "too small", "not weatherproof", "no protection against predators"...the list went on. Only one reviewer liked it, but he had two bantams and lived in a very mild climate. So we cancelled the order. We were a little worried when we were told that it might not be possible to cancel, but two days later we got confirmation of the cancellation and that very day we started buying materials to build our own. During chick season TSC had the same coop we had ordered and cancelled set up on display, and we were so relieved that we had done the right thing. It was made of very thin wood, none of the netting would have held off a sparrow let alone a determined stray dog and my brooder had more floor space. The box it came it would have made a better coop. That said, you may have found one that is more substantial, fairly good sized, and suits your needs. They are out there, but they are much more expensive than the inadequate ones more easily found. Donrae suggested that you post the one you want to order - that is a really good idea. Also do a Google search with the name of the coop to find independent reviews.

Building your own might seem intimidating and expensive. But when I open our back door and go out to tend the chickens, I am so proud of what we've provided for them. Neither my husband nor myself have any carpentry skills....between the two of us we couldn't stack a straight sandwich. But our coop/run is safe and comfortable for the chickens, easy for us to work in, and has the features we saw in other coops here on the forum incorporated to fit our needs, not the "cutesy coopy" caricature some of these coop companies sell as safe by promising that unrealistic numbers of birds can be housed.

Good luck, and welcome! Hope I haven't discouraged you.....

 

[WilhelminaD]

Neither my husband nor myself have any carpentry skills....between the two of us we couldn't stack a straight sandwich.

lol! That is so me! We ordered a shed from some local builders and they put in a hole so we can install the pop door. I'm finishing the inside and building the run myself and it's intimidating, but fun watching it come along. I will say that it's NOT been anywhere near as inexpensive as I hoped, but when we're done it should protect our hens from wind, weather, and wild animals!

For those of us who *have* started the brooding inside (mine are in my basement) when do you recommend them going out? Also, I know for the first couple weeks they're supposed to stay just in the coop. However, mine will be ready to go in the coop during the beginning of the hottest part of the year. How do you handle making sure they don't get overheated inside?

Thanks!

 

[Blooie]

lol! That is so me! We ordered a shed from some local builders and they put in a hole so we can install the pop door. I'm finishing the inside and building the run myself and it's intimidating, but fun watching it come along. I will say that it's NOT been anywhere near as inexpensive as I hoped, but when we're done it should protect our hens from wind, weather, and wild animals!

For those of us who *have* started the brooding inside (mine are in my basement) when do you recommend them going out? Also, I know for the first couple weeks they're supposed to stay just in the coop. However, mine will be ready to go in the coop during the beginning of the hottest part of the year. How do you handle making sure they don't get overheated inside?

Thanks!

Ventilation. And when you think you have enough ventilation, add some more ventilation. If you have power out there, I've read that a box fan works well, but remember that it will get dusty - a lot dusty! If you can shade your coop and run, that's also helpful. Lots of fresh, cold water. On really hot days toss some watermelon out there - they'll love it and the additional moisture in the fruit helps. All of those are things I'm going to do. Well, we already have plenty of ventilation, but we'll see if we need to poke a few more holes in the coop when the dog days get here. We have windows on the east side, the south side and the west side one is going in this afternoon. We also have an exhaust fan and vents on the north and west side.

We are also guilty of spending more on our coop/run than we planned. We live in town, and ours is visible from the street so we didn't want it to be an eyesore. But I figured that after investing in the brooder equipment, feed, health products, and the birds themselves it seemed silly to cut corners on the place they'd be spending most of their time and the place which is supposed to provide them with protection. So we gulped hard and dived in.

My chicks were received in February and we picked them up on the 26th when it was 19 below zero. They were brooded in the house, obviously, but by the time they were 4 weeks old I'd had enough. I had 22 of the little boogers in this very small house, and I couldn't take it any more. I started by turning off the heat lamp. What do you know? Peace and quiet reigned supreme at night for the first time in 2 months! Then I started cracking the window in the room they were in during the day. They survived that too. So at 5.5 weeks old, before the coop was even completely finished they were OUT. Oh, I worried. They were fully feathered but it was cold out! I put a wireless thermometer and a heat lamp in there, and the first night I got no sleep at all.I kept checking the temp, then going out and checking on them. Temp in the coop got down to 28 degrees just before dawn. They were huddled in front of the pop door, but seemed fine....I mean, even in the brooder they slept like that. The second night it snowed and the wind howled. If I hadn't taken the brooder down and started digging the office out from under the dust I'd have probably caved and brought them in. But I checked on them, they were sleeping in the same spot, and it was then that I noticed that they weren't even on the side of the coop with the heat lamp! So it came out the next day, and I could almost hear their feathers growing! They are now 11.5 weeks old and they are thriving! Since they went out it has snowed, rained, and the typical Wyoming winds have howled.

We have yet to have a night time temp above 35, but they are doing fantastic. They roost on the roost bar, eat well, and look like chickens! Supposed to stay at 40 degrees for the next few nights, so they'll probably break out their bikinis. We haven't faced heat with them yet, so that'll be a learning curve for us too. I can guarantee two things - that I will never order chicks that early in the year, and any future chicks will be brooded outdoors in a partitioned off part of the coop using the straw cave and heating pad method I saw somewhere on here.

 

[donrae]

Why do they need to stay in the coop for a couple of weeks? I'd imagine you might want to leave them in for a day or two, to get them used to sleeping in the coop, but beyond a few days it's not necessary. And, IMO, if your run is predator proof, why worry about where they sleep? I've had birds sleep outside for years and do just fine. Littles aren't likely to roost right off anyway, so if they sleep on the floor of the coop or the floor of the run, does it really matter?

 

[Blooie]

Why do they need to stay in the coop for a couple of weeks? I'd imagine you might want to leave them in for a day or two, to get them used to sleeping in the coop, but beyond a few days it's not necessary. And, IMO, if your run is predator proof, why worry about where they sleep? I've had birds sleep outside for years and do just fine. Littles aren't likely to roost right off anyway, so if they sleep on the floor of the coop or the floor of the run, does it really matter?

Boy, I sure like you Donrae! You sound just like me! Our run is extremely secure, so we just leave the pop door open all the time and they come or go as they please. I have a Buff Orpington and an Easter Egger who have decided the coop is too cooped up, so they sleep on the roost hanging in their run every night. They sit close together under the shelter of one of the covers on the run. Hey, if they're happy, I'm happy.

I never did shut them up after the permanent run was built - while we were finishing the coop we hooked our dog's x-pen to the people door and they were in and out from day one, despite the cruddy weather. Then I did lock them in the coop at night because there was no way that x-pen was safe enough and no way I'd leave the people door open either. But now, heck, they they are pretty self reliant. They know what they need, when they need it, and they just take care of it!