Im on my third set of chicks. We are in NE Pennsylvania, the first were from hatched eggs and went out into an old "milk house" type building that is block and small at 6 weeks. There were 10 - there are now 1 roo and 4 hens in that coop. Last year we got 25 (which of course meant 28) from McMurray - all ornamentals. We built a coop at the bottom of our barn, which is partially underground. Under no circumstances are we going to have any type of electricity left on in our barn built in 1890 - and they have done well, even through the winter. We didnt let them out of the barn til they were more like 12 weeks. We have 10 right now that are 4 weeks old, we will be building their coop beside the one in the barn and moving them in a week or so. They are getting very bored in their brooder, I have begun to lower the temp on them from early on, I did turn their heat lamp back on last night when I realized even I was chilly, they were in the upper 70's. We wont let them out of their coop until we are sure they can mix with the older mature chicks. All our chickens seem to stay with the ones they were raised with, and even within those groups the different breeds like each other, like the Spanish stay together and the Buttercups stay together, etc., but the roosters dont have a preference!!!!
