What are your older chicks living in?

[Southpaw970]

I moved mine to a pack-n-play yesterday. They are on my screened in porch. Last night I brought it in the living room, but tonight they are staying outside. Everyone is sound asleep, so they must be comfy and warm enough.

Like you, I thought we had to wait til they were as big as the grown ones to put them together. I'm confused now.

 

[TeamChaos]

I have my girls in a dog cage right now too- they go out in an unused dog run during the day, but that's not an option here.
I got a free playpen from craigslist with the intention of having it on hand in case the girls needed a bigger space- some can be flipped over and the floorboard removed, so it would work either way. Kids' playpen- just an idea for more space

x-post with southpaw!

 

[Mrs.H]

Quote:
Im always confused lately

LOL I cant wait for these chicks to get older and it will be less stressful!

 

[Olive Hill]

Mrs.H :

Quote:
Really? Im just always reading not to put them in with older ones until they are fully feathered or the same size, so that what ive been going by b/c im def. not a chicken expert LOL. Im also worried about snakes, we have some big ones here in NC, we have a chain link run with chicken wire around the bottom, snakes can get in, havent seen one yet, but this will be our 1st summer with chickens, and im sure the snakes can get through, I wold think they would go after the little ones.

You're going to get as many opinions on this as there are chickens to raise. You just have to do what works and feels best for your situation. Ours are, as a general rule of thumb, kicked out to the coop/outdoor brooder somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks old. They have a heat lamp at night and it is left on during any days where it's cold, dreary and wet (happens often enough for that to be a rule here in Michigan.) During this time if there are days where the weather permits, they go outside in temporary pens (we free-range and have no permanent pens whatsoever so that's why I say temporary.) By about 4 weeks they tend to have a lot of their feathering well in progress and at that point we let them out on a very regular basis in the temp. pens and have largely weaned them off the heat lamp unless weather is particularly inclement. Right about that time we let them out for short, supervised free-range lessons; increasing the duration and decreasing our supervising as they learn. We have raccoons, fox, coyotes, opposum, hawk, owl, eagle, snakes, weasel, stray dogs, feral cats, and on and on. Is there risk involved? Absolutely. The existence of the chickens alone has inherent risk. We've never, knock on wood, had a problem. Determine what your concerns are, prioritize them and deal with those at the top of the list first, in the best way you can. If snakes are of the biggest concern, reinforce the bottom portion of your run with hardware cloth. A 1/4 inch diameter snake will be of little threat to even the smallest chicks in the bunch.

IMO, people tend to molly coddle chickens more than what they really need. We take a very laid back approach and have always had excellent results. It works for us, it may or may not for you. Only you can decide.

 

[Mrs.H]

Olive Hill, you do have point b/c back in the day im sure people didnt go all out like they do nowadays with chickens. Im sure back in the day chicks were with older chickens from day one and fine. Ive actually raised these chicks from day one without a heat lamp or light bulb (paranoid about fires) and they are doing great, getting huge everyday. We live in NC so the weather wasnt too cold at night, some nights it did get down to 30s-40s but it wanst that cold in our unheated mudroom and daytime weather it was like 60s-70s by early morning. Im trying to be laid back as much as possible with chickens also, but sometimes it just hard, lol. I think its b/c its my 1st batch of chicks so im being more over protective/over thinking things then I really need to be

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

I wouldnt put small chicks in with older hens yet. They should be much older than 4 weeks. It would be different if they were born in the same coop but to put them in now will lead to pecking and possible death. If you have to put the dog crate inside the coop. but keep them separated. I have 5 month olds that I am waiting to put in with the older birds theres no way I would risk my chicks. Try to find the washer or dryer box if you cant find a refrigerator box. If you cant find those try to get a few toliet paper or paper towel boxes from the grocery store yuo can always tape them together to make whatever size you need.

 

[newchicksnducks]

Your original question was where do the older chicks live...I used a outdoor deck cushion box as a brooder with a window screen on top. It was high enough that we were able to keep them in without too much problem, although some were definitely higher jumpers than others! lol You don't want to add your babies to the big girls until they are getting closer in size. Are you sure there is no way to section off a part of the coop? We used chicken wire to section of the baby side when our girls outgrew the deck box. The babies were not allowed to use the run until they were well feathered out. Their side of the coop had a heat lamp on until they were well feathered too. (Basically until night time temps met the chick required temperature.) Good luck!

 

[Olive Hill]

Mrs.H :

Olive Hill, you do have point b/c back in the day im sure people didnt go all out like they do nowadays with chickens. Im sure back in the day chicks were with older chickens from day one and fine. Ive actually raised these chicks from day one without a heat lamp or light bulb (paranoid about fires) and they are doing great, getting huge everyday. We live in NC so the weather wasnt too cold at night, some nights it did get down to 30s-40s but it wanst that cold in our unheated mudroom and daytime weather it was like 60s-70s by early morning. Im trying to be laid back as much as possible with chickens also, but sometimes it just hard, lol. I think its b/c its my 1st batch of chicks so im being more over protective/over thinking things then I really need to be

Oh my goodness. If they're accustomed to the temps already what in the world are you waiting for? Put those fuzzy little juveniles outside.

By all means heed the advice here to provide something small under which the chicks can hide from the big chickens for the first few days and do the introduction on a day that you have time to supervise. But my goodness, if size was a deal breaker you would never see mixed flocks. Think of all the people who keep bantams with standards, bantams with large fowl, bantams with ducks, with geese, with turkeys! Size, schm-ize. They speak chicken, that's all that matters. They'll work it out. Be there to intervene if it gets nasty, but don't worry about a peck here or there. Pecks happen, it's how they communicate with one another. FWIW, I have never had to intervene. I'm always there, always watching, and you know what, I admit, I'm almost always nervous at least a little. How can we help not to be? But I have never had to step in.​

 

[ChickyLaura]

I agree with Olive Hill. What I do is I have a seperate area in the coop for chicks. There are several different ages of chicks in that area but it works pretty darn good for me. I do have a light out there but it's pretty high and I have is secured with zip ties.

You will find a way that works for you. You will definitely find a million and one ways to do it here on BYC. Don't be afraid to experiment a little. If it doesn't work out, try another way!

Have fun!

 

[smallcitychick]

If you're looking for a big box (I have my 3.5 week olds, 3 of them, in a big freezer box-they're flying around now, but no way can they reach the top of it yet. But if that time come before I'm ready to move them to the coop, I'll just top with chicken wire) you can try calling furniture or appliance stores to see if they have any boxes they'll give you or sell for cheap. I can often get ones for free from appliance stores and they're the perfect size!