Topic of the Week - Moving chicks out of the brooder and into the coop

[mstailfeathers]

Got 7 chicks in September. I used an ecoglow as their heat source. Chicks loved the ecoglow and would come out to eat, play and go back under when needed. I also put in and ostrich feather duster. Took them a bit to figure out what it was but when they did, if was funny. 7 little chicks trying to under the feather duster all at once. LOL One morning I was up and they were still asleep. Butts under the ecoglow and there little head peaking out. At about 4-5 weeks I took my brooder bin (extra large clear plastic tub out to the coop. I left the screen over it for about week so my hens could look at get use to them. After a week or so I let then out with my older hens. I turn the plastic bin sideways and filled it loosely with straw. I made all sorts of places that the chicks and get away and hide or play. It was my first time doing this and I have to say it went well. Have some minor chasing from the hens, usually over food. I have 3 food places and several places to get water. One night I found my rooster with his wings around the chicks up on the roost.
I think each flock is different. Integrating should be based on how well you group deals with change. My flock of hens and rooster are mellow and pretty accepting. I know when I let the chicks out of the brooder for the first time, my rooster stood by the area and when the hens walked in he made a very low growl noise to them. None of the hens crossed that imaginary line for a week!

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Hello! I have been raising chickens for a little over a year now, and I have been hatching and raising waves of chicks for the past 3, almost 4 months. This how I have organized all the different introductions:

I move the chicks out of the brooder boxes at 4-6 weeks old, depending on how many there are in a box. I have a doghouse I converted to a small coop that a heat lamp can sit inside of, so when I had to move 4 week old chicks during the cold season, I was still able to keep them warm. The doghouse is equipped with an attached pen that they spend the next couple weeks in. Again, depending on how many there are, I might release them into the flock by 6-7 weeks. But if I only have two or one, I would wait until about 10-12 weeks so they fair better against the inevitable pecking order drama.

My main coop is big enough that it has 4 tiers of roosting bars, and the youngest ones simply sleep on the lowest bars to stay safe. It takes a week or two of me placing them there off of the upper roosts before it takes, but it's worth the effort. Then they all kind of figure it out amongst themselves from there.

If one of my coops gets overcrowded, I will sometimes move the newest chickens to another coop that has more room and it usually works out fine.

I included photos to share what the dynamics of my flock look like with all the different chicks.

 

[D1N0]

Hello! I have been raising chickens for a little over a year now, and I have been hatching and raising waves of chicks for the past 3, almost 4 months. This how I have organized all the different introductions:

I move the chicks out of the brooder boxes at 4-6 weeks old, depending on how many there are in a box. I have a doghouse I converted to a small coop that a heat lamp can sit inside of, so when I had to move 4 week old chicks during the cold season, I was still able to keep them warm. The doghouse is equipped with an attached pen that they spend the next couple weeks in. Again, depending on how many there are, I might release them into the flock by 6-7 weeks. But if I only have two or one, I would wait until about 10-12 weeks so they fair better against the inevitable pecking order drama.

My main coop is big enough that it has 4 tiers of roosting bars, and the youngest ones simply sleep on the lowest bars to stay safe. It takes a week or two of me placing them there off of the upper roosts before it takes, but it's worth the effort. Then they all kind of figure it out amongst themselves from there.

If one of my coops gets overcrowded, I will sometimes move the newest chickens to another coop that has more room and it usually works out fine.

I included photos to share what the dynamics of my flock look like with all the different chicks.

The chicks still alive?

 

[D1N0]

Well aren't chicks anymore

 

[FunnyBunny89]

The chicks still alive?

Yes? I don't understand the question.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Hi! I'm 9weeks old! Can you tell if I'm a female or male? My mom said she heard me crow....

 

[Folly's place]

Cockerel!

 

[WhySayWhat]

I used a homemade "tote brooder" for my first chicks...in my laundry room! It was a LOT of dust, even with just 3 chicks. The second go around, I had planned to use the same tote brooder and heat lamp, but it turns out, even at 2-3 days old, 15 chicks do not fit into even a LARGE tote! So, I used a black metal dog crate with cardboard all around the edges. I also "upgraded" to a heat plate instead of a heat lamp. The brooder plate was a game changer! I did end up setting up a heat lamp as well around day 8 though, the small brooder plate I bought was too small for the 14 surviving chicks as they grew! The metal dog crate in the garage was "okay", it was nice to be able to add small dowels at varying levels to give the chicks the chance to learn to roost prior to going outside.

Then, I let one of my hens hatch eggs in one of those tiny "6 chicken" coops they sell at Costco. (You know, the kind really only large enough for ONE fully grown hen.) Well, my Cochin hatched one egg on her own and I gave her 5 more newly hatched chicks a few days later and Momma and all 6 babies were OUTSIDE! Separated from the main flock by 1/4" hardware cloth so the "aunties" got to know the babies as they got bigger. THAT was a game changer right there...those babies feathered out faster and were able to cope in our weather patterns better than any hen (or accidental roo) I have ever raised inside! So, now, I have used the brooder plate with foster chicks that I have taken in with great success as well as this Spring (In March), I put 3 chicks I got to "replace my numbers" out in the small coop (I leave it set up year-round to use as a "hospital pen" when a hen gets injured and needs separated). My "plan" was to let one of my broody hens (I had 4 at the time) raise the babies, but all 4 said "No!" to being a foster mom (weirdos). So, in went the brooder plate and they chicks are now almost 8 weeks old and as big as my smallest Silkie! I even came out a few days ago to see one of the chicks had managed to escape the separation pen (added space using a collapsible pen) and was hanging out with my 2- and 5-year-old hens! I am working on supervised "play time" with the hens now, while they work out pecking order. The chicks will sleep in the small pen until they willingly go in the big coop or they start laying, whichever comes first!

 

[WhySayWhat]

Hi! I'm 9weeks old! Can you tell if I'm a female or male? My mom said she heard me crow....
View attachment 4134464
View attachment 4134465

Def. a dude...sorry if you can't have them....woohoo if you wanted a cockerel!