The first 60 Days

[wings]

I've been curious about this too. I'm not worried about it weather wise, but socially. I have some big chickens and I fear it will be ugly when I put everyone together...

As long as you have a nice warm coop and a brooder light everything should be fine. Just check on them before you go to bed.

 

[Masonic Chicken]

We kept ours in our house for the 2 weeks and I must be honest in Florida heat I just couldn't take it. I ended up building an outside brooder much sooner than I had intended. I built it a little larger than I would have done, but I wanted to make it large enough to keep the birds until they get around 12 weeks or so. They should all have plety of room in the outside brooder. It's 8ft long, 3 foot deep and 3 ft tall. Its pretty good size, I got the heat lamps in there and its under a roof in a screened in area. they seem to love it so much more... I bought all the stuff to fence in my yard and I am really excited to see my old girls out there running and playing, I am gonna make a smaller pen for the new chicks, so I can slowly introduce them...I think they are gonna like free ranging!

 

[Tala]

Mine went outside at 2 weeks. Need a warm coop and a lamp, but really they'll be fine.

 

[pafarmgirl]

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!!!!

 

[countrygirlatheart]

Quote:
Thanks firedove...we put the nuggets (who are now 5 wks old) out in the run yesterday with the "teens" but I let the big girls freerange. For the most part, they did fine, an occasional peck but ok. We then put the big girls back in to see

how they would do with the babies,

interesting to watch. They would "peck" at the babies, but not be mean to them like they are the teens, and would even "herd" them towards grassy spots and once the babies started scratching the big girls would walk off. I sat and watched for a little while, then called the big girls back out to "roam the yard with me". But come evening time, big girls went back to yard, and I gathered the nuggets and put them back in their box in the shop. I think they had a good day, they were all asleep when i checked on them later in the evening.

hehehehe And the big girls......

they would follow me all over the yard and if they went "too far" they would "squak" (?), i would say "I'm over here" and they would come running back. Even squaked at my cat who i guess got too close to me when they were there. He just looked at them like whatever

and just layed there. We will have to do this again.