Unexpected Benefit of Raising Chicks in the Fall

[AUChickenGal]

Lucky you! This was us on October 12, just last week....

Oh dear! I'm pretty sure I (and my fair-weather horse) would curl up and hibernate under those circumstances! I didn't even see a snowflake last winter!

I will definitely expedite the weaning off of the heat lamp, though. I want my chicks to be fully prepared when winter arrives (if it ever does).

 

[ckelley]

I'm not going to cover the vents. It is vented all along where the soffit is on a traditional house- where the roof trusses met the walls we left it open. I wanted to add foil along the wall where the roost is to reflect back their body heat, not enclose them in foil. They also have two windows and their door.

Right now they are in the basement, and I wanted to move them early out into their coop so I was strategizing ways to do that, but I really have no need to rush at this point.

 

[AUChickenGal]

So, this is what my babies look like at four weeks. Hoping to get them weaned off the heat lamp and into the coop in the next two weeks. Realistic goal?

 

[centrarchid]

I am going into winter with about 40 chicks. Youngest will not have hatched until early next week. They are hen reared through five weeks at least some are being weaned at five weeks. Owing age differences they will be raised in groups based on age. No heat lamps will be used. Direct wind will be blocked and most of pen bottoms will be covered in hay / straw. Pens will oriented to catch sunlight for the first couple hours each morning when it is needed most. If all goes well chicks will then be able to sunbath even when temperatures below zero F.

 

[centrarchid]

So, this is what my babies look like at four weeks. Hoping to get them weaned off the heat lamp and into the coop in the next two weeks. Realistic goal?

Yes. At you latitude five week old birds will be able to handle cold. Just keep them dry with food and water at all time. Make certain they do not pile on first couple cold nights.

 

[Shezadandy]

I'm not going to cover the vents. It is vented all along where the soffit is on a traditional house- where the roof trusses met the walls we left it open. I wanted to add foil along the wall where the roost is to reflect back their body heat, not enclose them in foil. They also have two windows and their door.

Right now they are in the basement, and I wanted to move them early out into their coop so I was strategizing ways to do that, but I really have no need to rush at this point.

Will the foil material stand up to strong, curious beaks? Shiny materials attract the little buggers like nobody's business. Also, if the foil material you're thinking of using has any kind of fill type material, and they decide to entertain themselves by pecking at it, they may eat the fill material.

If you're sold on doing the foil, you may want to have some 1/2" hardware cloth over the area with at least an inch between the foil and the hardware cloth so they can't reach it...
This is a window covering, but it's the basic idea (2x2's used to make a frame, staple hardware cloth to it) so they cannot get to the foil. Also, see the blue part on the right side? That's the same idea just on the wall-- did that so air would come in but critters cannot.

 

[AUChickenGal]

Yes. At you latitude five week old birds will be able to handle cold. Just keep them dry with food and water at all time. Make certain they do not pile on first couple cold nights.

Thank you! We're looking at highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s over the next week to ten days, so "cold" nights are still quite a ways off. I'll be sure to check on them frequently the first several nights, though.

 

[ckelley]

Its a heavy duty quilted space blanket. It will not tear. It does not have filler.

 

[Shezadandy]

Its a heavy duty quilted space blanket. It will not tear. It does not have filler.

OK good- just wanted to double check. You hear of folks putting in insulation and finding out that chickens decide to rip into it and digest it. =)

 

[AUChickenGal]

My chicks are five weeks old today and will be coming home on Saturday. Most of them are terrified of me when I walk into their brooder. One of my Welsummers, though, (the one that I'm sure of a pullet of the three), runs over to me and then squats so that I will rub her back. She falls asleep while I'm petting her. Is that normal? I love how sweet she is - I've named her Cora (short for "corazon", the Spanish word for "heart"), but it seems odd that she is SO friendly while all the other chicks think I'm trying to kill them every time I look at them...

She even poses for pictures: