Today's the day! Few questions about sending my chicks outside

[Raubkatze]

The weather seems to have finally stabilized at 50s and 60s during the day, and my husband is home today to help me move them from the brooder to the coop.

I do have a few questions...when first moving them, is it best to keep them confined for a few days inside the coop so that they know that that is their new home? That is what I always did when I got a new adult hen years ago, but back then I did not have an enclosed run, they all just free ranged. I do have an auto door on it's way to me. It will be a little while before that is installed.

Should I put their food in the coop with them, or outside in the run?

I plan to use shavings for a while as it is still getting down in the 30s overnight and I feel shavings will be cozier for them and more familiar. Under normal use conditions, how often do most people completely strip their coops? I have been stripping my brooder once a day because that is their house, run, and bed right now, but once they are outside I am hoping there will be less poop in the coop.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I don’t confine mine to the coop but I do have to put them in for a few days…or weeks…until they figure it out. If you lock them in obviously the food goes in with them and it will get messier faster. Otherwise put it in the run.

As for cleaning that depends a lot on your coop but with wood shavings you can sort of scoop the poop like a giant litter box once a day. I usually did a full bedding change once a month with a dozen hend

 

[Raubkatze]

I don’t confine mine to the coop but I do have to put them in for a few days…or weeks…until they figure it out. If you lock them in obviously the food goes in with them and it will get messier faster. Otherwise put it in the run.

As for cleaning that depends a lot on your coop but with wood shavings you can sort of scoop the poop like a giant litter box once a day. I usually did a full bedding change once a month with a dozen hend

This is going to sound like a dumb question, but what did you use to scoop the poop? I tried a kitty litter scoop and wasn't having much success in my brooder. Maybe it will be different in the coop when they are pooping in there less.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

a kitty litter scoop will work for adult poop but I had a little broom and dust pan like you use for camping to sweep out your tent and I used that to scoop larger areas. You wouldnt sift in that case, just kind of shovel the poop and bedding out in one go and throw some fresh bedding in. Not all the bedding. Usually they will poop while they sleep and if they’re not in the coop all day you can scoop that area once a day to extend the life of the bedding. How often you have to do the whole thing depends on the size of your coop and how many birds you have.

 

[newchickmomma83]

I just put mine in their new coop last night! I let them have access to the run and the coop until it started to get dark. Then I put them up in the coop and locked them in. This morning I went in first thing and opened up the coop and brought them out.

As for cleaning, I'd say just see how it goes. My bigger ones don't leave too big of a mess so I clean it out probably weekly.

 

[Ridgerunner]

when first moving them, is it best to keep them confined for a few days inside the coop so that they know that that is their new home?

People do this different ways. The idea if you leave them locked in there for a week or so is that they will recognize it as home and return there to sleep at night. That doesn't always work for everybody but it does for a lot of people. The other option is to go out there every night when it gets dark and lock them in the coop overnight until they do that on their own. That is what I do. I've had them all go in on their own the second day (once) and I've had some wait three weeks before the last ones went in on their own.

Should I put their food in the coop with them, or outside in the run?

Some people feed and/or water only in the coop, some feed and/or water only in the run, and some feed and/or water in both. We have our own reasons for how we go about it. I don't consider one way right and everything else wrong, it's just how you choose to go about it.

Under normal use conditions, how often do most people completely strip their coops?

I have no idea how often most people strip their coop. I have no way to count. Some remove poop every day (often using droppings boards) and remove all bedding weekly. I'm at the other extreme. I use droppings boards but only remove the poop when I see a need. My goal is that the coop does not stink. If the droppings dry out they do not stink. If they build up very thick they will stay wet and stink. In the winter when I only have 7 to 9 chickens and the humidity is low, I may be able to go 6 weeks before cleaning the droppings boards. In summer with maybe 50 chickens and high humidity I may clean them every week.

As far as stripping the entire coop, basically once a year. Not because I need to, the coop stays dry and does not stink, but in the fall I like dumping all the bedding and poop on the garden so it can decompose and be ready for spring planting. I can tell a big difference in the spots in the garden I add the bedding and poop and those I don't, both in fertility and tilth.

I don't know what your coop or flock looks like and I have no idea of your tolerances. I used trial and error to find the right answer for me. The smaller your coop is the more often you probably need to clean it. And you may have some criteria other than smell to guide you.

I have been stripping my brooder once a day because that is their house, run, and bed right now, but once they are outside I am hoping there will be less poop in the coop.

I have a lot of room outside and they are hardly ever in the coop during the day. The poop load is pretty small during the day. At night while they are on the roost is when poop gets deposited.

Good luck!