Too young for brooder?

[kelsieann124]

Hello!! I am having a difficult time figuring out when exactly to put the chicks in the coop. I have read 5-8 weeks, but I am having some issues. In Arizona right now, it has been getting in the 80s even to 90s in the day, and at night it usually stays around 75. I don't really want to put my chicks out yet just because they seem so small though! They are from 3 1/2 weeks to 4 1/2 weeks. But, every morning when I come and sit to watch them, I find my Jersey Giant (4 weeks) on top of the brooder looking over into our other brooder at the babies in there hahah! She now has taught all the other chicks her age to do the same. So when I came out this morning, all four of them were siting on top of their brooder! I put chicken wire on top to prevent it, but I feel that their brooder is just too small for them now and that they are bored! I have been letting them run around in the coop for about 2-3 hours a day since we built it on Saturday and they LOVE IT! I will post pics of them to see what you guys think!

 

[kelsieann124]

This was them on the brooder this morning

 

[kelsieann124]

 

[kelsieann124]

And in the title I meant to say "too old for brooder"? Oops!

 

[Chicken Girl1]

You can put them out in the coop now if it is secure or you could wait, it is really is up to you. If you keep them inside longer I would advise putting wire of the brooder so they won't fly out. Here is a article and thread on putting the outside sooner then later: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old

Good luck!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

You can certainly move them out! I am in Maryland and my chicks turn 6 weeks today and have been outdoors for weeks already With your temps that will be more than okay and can start acclimating to the outdoor temps and exploring their new home.

 

[kelsieann124]

Okay sounds good! Thank you so much! And thank you for the link! It helped a lot!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since you just finished the coop you don’t have any adult chickens to worry about integration with them. That makes it a lot easier.

As long as your coop is secure from predators and it offers reasonable protection from the environment (rain and wind), there is no reason they all could not go out now. It looks like you have brooded the two groups separately so you may or may not have issues integrating all the chicks, that remains to be seen.

I don’t believe in that chart where you start at 90 the first week and drop it five degrees a week after that, I’ve seen way too many times where that did not apply, they can handle much cooler temperatures. But many people draw comfort in charts like that so I’ll reproduce it below. Your 3-1/2 week olds are somewhere around 24 days old. Even by that extremely safe chart that are ready.

0-6 days - 90 degrees
7-13 days – 85
14-20 days – 80
21-27 days – 75

I hope your coop has plenty of good ventilation so heat does not build up in it like an oven. If the heat can’t escape and the coop is in the sun, it can get dangerously hot in those temperatures. In those temperatures and what you will see later this year, heat is much more of your enemy than cold.

Yes they are small. You need to protect them against predators.

For what it is worth to you, I’ve had broody hens wean their chicks at three weeks in the heat of summer. Three weeks old, younger than yours. Those chicks were left on their own to make their way with the flock. Mama had taken care of integration before she weaned them, so that was not an issue, but they grew up fine with the flock. They are small but very capable.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

There is no reason not to move them to the coop, temps in your area are more than warm enough for 3-4+ weeks olds. We moved ours out at that age with nights in the upper 30s and they did fine. They will love the extra space! Chicks that age are tougher than you think.

 

[kelsieann124]

Okay I will move them in there tomorrow then! Thank you everyone for your thoughts! And Ridgerunner, living in Arizona, we made sure our coop was in the coolest spot and has a ton of ventilation, we have had birds our whole lives, excepting chickens, so we know how to keep it cool even though it can be very difficult!