transferring chicks to coop outside?

[felidaet]

My 18 chicks range from 3 - 4 weeks old. This coming weekend they will be 4 - 5 weeks old. They are permanently moving from the garage brooder to the coop this weekend. They are too crowded in the brooder. I am also anxious to switch them from the tiny quart waterer to a 5 gallon waterer. I am filling up the quart size 3 times a day now.

Last weekend I had them in the coop all day on Sat and again on Sunday. I do have a heat lamp setup in one corner. They loved it in there.

 

[m2wandc]

good to know....so I need to figure out how to wire a heat lamp to the coop once the coop is finished and get the girls used to the outside in short intervals during the day (california, not too cold during the day...nights here get below 40 for sure...it's a valley, big temp changes from day to night)

I just don't want mice or rodants (yup, loads of those around here) eating the extension cord if it's out there for an extended period of time...the mice did a $4600 dollar chew thru wire mess in my car's engine! soooo as much as I'd like a few mice to take a bite out of a live wire, I don't want any fires or chickens injured in the process...LOL

 

[emvickrey]

I am having a problem with rodents too. They don't bother the wires though. What we do is we hang the extension cord to where we want it. To get it to the big coop, it went through tree branches and it was there for about a year without damage until we had the ice storm. The tree ended up all bent over and pulled the cod out of the socket. Thank goodness it didn't pull it form the light fixture instead in the coop. Although the electricity was off for 5 days it could have damaged the coop.

Anyway, back to the rodents. Yesterday I went out and put rat poison in all the mouse holes and covered them up with dirt or a brick or big rocks. Whatever I found. IN the coop I covered with dirt and a brick. I wish the hcickens would kill them. I always keep enough food out for all our animals to last all day. So the mice have a smorgasboard of food to choose form and they are fat and healthy just like the animals.

We also have a huge problem with ants. They have gotten in my house plants and killed most of them off. I bought some ant poison that looks like ground up tree bark and put it on the garden soil and around it and around out home. One bag went a long way. IT is the kind that has to be wet to work so I watered it as I was at it. I have to keep the chickens in the coop for a few days to make srue they stay out of it. I just hope it works. The ants are awful. They get in the animal food and they are all in our home.

I gought these little ant baits last year that did a wonderful job but I can't find them this year. I htink the name is Aurthers Ant Baits. They are metal disc on a white plastic base with a hole in the top of the metal disc. They work wonderful. YOu can put them outside in the weather or nail them to a post. Whereever you see a trail just put in in the way and in a day or two the whole colony they camoe from is dead. Then just move the disc to another place. I just can't find them now.

And they're safe for the aniumals because they cna't get to the poison. Mine didn't even bother them. I have a chihuahua mix that we call crack head becuae of the way she acts around food. You would htink she is starving but like all the other animals she has food out 24/7, She didn't do anything but sniff them.If anybody has them in your area I would gladly send you the money to get me some.

OK, i'll quit rambling now.

 

[m2wandc]

Do lady bugs eat ants? if so, you can buy 1500 lady bugs on amazon for less then twenty...just a thought ...

 

[wings]

I put them in based on their behavior: when they seem ready for it. Usually they will be fine if they have a light and if you check on them before you go to bed.

 

[alycoop]

I purchased my three 1.5 week old chicks last Monday and as the daytime weather has been very warm here I have them in a 4 x 4 foot cage with hardwire during the day. I drape a 'shade cloth' normally used for plants over the cage to give more dappled light.

I do bring them in at night and keep them in a cat kennel but no heat lamp as the room is quite warm.

I must say they certainly enjoy being in the outdoors. So much fun to see their reaction to being outside. They are curious about everything. I wonder if putting them out earlier (weather permitting) helps their chicken brains develop faster with all the stimuli?

 

[MissouriChick]

I had to go ahead and put my 3 1/2 week old chicks in their coop b/c they had simply outgrown the brooder and I didn't have any other options. And guess what? They LOVED it! You could almost see it on their faces, like they were saying "thank you, thank you, thank you!" I was encouraged by many people's responses about chicks being heartier than we give them credit for and so we went for it. Obviously, I didn't throw caution to the wind and just take them outside without considering other factors. We kept them only in the coop for two days, with a lamp, so that they could become comfortable in their new home. Then, b/c it was so nice and warm, we let them outside during the day. They were a little freaked out at first about everything around them but after about an hour or so, they calmed down and began to explore everything. It was wonderful to watch. We did have to hand place them back into the coop at the end of the day, and have had to every day since. But, I'm happy to report that, last night, they finally understood the concept of going up their little ramp after I picked up a few and put them into the coop via their chicken door. Suddenly, their peeping changed keys, as if they were telling each other something, and then, one by one, they started marching up the ramp. How cool!

 

[m2wandc]

Well for the past week I've been putting the two chicks (6 weeks old now-I think?) in the coop during the day (or afternoon if the morning is really chilly) and then bringing them in at night (back inside to the brooder) and they seem to be fine with that...I haven't had a heat lamp on them for a couple of weeks because our house is typically 70-75 degrees inside...

...anyhow, my question is this...once their coop is complete with a roost and boxes, will they be able to get warm enough at night in their without a heat lamp? They seem pretty much fully feathered, but how do you know for sure?

 

[SimplyForties]

Stick a thermometer out there and check it about 5am. Generally, the coldest temps are just before dawn. Just an idea

 

[harrisville chicken]

We put our chickens outside full time at six weeks old. We have two Easter Eggers and two Cochin Frizzles. The Frizzles were not quite at the fully-feathered stage yet, but would huddle up with the EE at night to keep warm. It took a week or so to train them (the frizzles) how to get up the ramp to be with the EEs at night, but they finally figured it out. They LOVE it outside, as opposed to the Rubbermaid container they grew up in. We have opened up the run to give them access to the entire backyard, but so far, they just suddenly realize they're out of their "safe zone" and run along the fence until they can get back in.

As far as ants go, baking soda is a quick-acting (but not long lasting) poison to them. No worries about your pets, chickens or children get into it.