Thinking of moving 5 week old chicks

[vintage]

Our brooder is a Tarten trough, I've enjoyed it a lot. Our chicks are 5 weeks and will be moving out to the coop in April. The trough is about 12 inches tall, and we'll be going out of town for the weekend (4 days), the chicks can fly out when the lid is off. This doesn't bother me typically, I put a lid on at night. But I don't want to leave them for days (they will be getting checked on by family) with the lid on. I have a massive box, it's about 4.5x3 feet and nearly 3 feet tall. Should I move them into the box? I don't plan to have their heat lamp on, they're in our rec room (a/c and heat). For those of you who use boxes as brooders, what do you put on the floor of the box between the cardboard and bedding?

 

[MountainWoman73]

That sounds fine. You'll probably still need a lid. They can fly higher than you think. I don't put anything else in the bottom of my box besides bedding. Another thing you can do is poke two holes in the sides of the box and put a stick through it to make a roost.

 

[TOR]

I don't use anything but bedding in the cardboard box. I do put another layer of cardboard underneath the box.
I keep the chicks till about 4 weeks old in the basement then move to barn.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

Our brooder is a Tarten trough, I've enjoyed it a lot. Our chicks are 5 weeks and will be moving out to the coop in April. The trough is about 12 inches tall, and we'll be going out of town for the weekend (4 days), the chicks can fly out when the lid is off. This doesn't bother me typically, I put a lid on at night. But I don't want to leave them for days (they will be getting checked on by family) with the lid on. I have a massive box, it's about 4.5x3 feet and nearly 3 feet tall. Should I move them into the box? I don't plan to have their heat lamp on, they're in our rec room (a/c and heat). For those of you who use boxes as brooders, what do you put on the floor of the box between the cardboard and bedding?

I use puppy pads.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Your 3' tall box you want to move them into still will need a ventilated cover. 5 week olds can easily fly up 3'.