- May 15, 2011
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I live up in northern Canada. Although we can still be prone to frosts until early June, the night-time termpatures are hovering around 3-5 degrees Celsius, or 38 to 42 degrees Farenheit. So, I'm wondering if it is okay to move chicks to an area brooder within our outdoor coop (I obviously would move the heat lamp)
I picked up 25 chicks about a week ago (20 barred rocks, 4 buff orpingtons, 1 buff brahma). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get chicks of all the same age. At the moment, 10 are about 1 week old and 14 are 2 weeks old (we lost one young one to some sort of illness). I think the 2 week-old chicks are ready to be put in a brooder in the coop (size and feathers are really starting to come in), but I'm a little concerned about the 1 week-old chicks. Their primaries are just starting to develop and they are quite a bit smaller.
So far, everyone gets along great. Just a little bit of pecking, but I thinking that's just to develop the pecking order. The little guys still feed and drink and they all sleep together (ie they don't segregate based on age). I don't want to mess with this dynamic by segregating them for a week and then putting them back together.
So, I guess my questions are:
1) Are these guys ready to go to a brooder within the outdoor coop? I will make an area brooder within the coop, so that they don't have full reign of the coop yet. I will obviously move the heat lamp with them (250 W).
2) Should I just move the 2 week old chicks and leave the younger ones in the indoor brooder for another few days until they are a bit bigger? I know it's not ideal to have different aged chicks, but the woman I got the chicks from felt that they were close enough in age that it wouldn't matter. So far she's been right.
Also, an unrelated question...
3) Is it okay to feed the chicks earthworms? I caught a few ants the other day and I have slowly been feeding them to the older chicks. They love it and it is highly entertaining to watch them play keep away. I know grouse chicks eat insects as they develop, so I assume it's fine for chickens. I just wasn't sure about earthworms.
Thanks so much. Clearly I have lot's to learn...
I picked up 25 chicks about a week ago (20 barred rocks, 4 buff orpingtons, 1 buff brahma). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get chicks of all the same age. At the moment, 10 are about 1 week old and 14 are 2 weeks old (we lost one young one to some sort of illness). I think the 2 week-old chicks are ready to be put in a brooder in the coop (size and feathers are really starting to come in), but I'm a little concerned about the 1 week-old chicks. Their primaries are just starting to develop and they are quite a bit smaller.
So far, everyone gets along great. Just a little bit of pecking, but I thinking that's just to develop the pecking order. The little guys still feed and drink and they all sleep together (ie they don't segregate based on age). I don't want to mess with this dynamic by segregating them for a week and then putting them back together.
So, I guess my questions are:
1) Are these guys ready to go to a brooder within the outdoor coop? I will make an area brooder within the coop, so that they don't have full reign of the coop yet. I will obviously move the heat lamp with them (250 W).
2) Should I just move the 2 week old chicks and leave the younger ones in the indoor brooder for another few days until they are a bit bigger? I know it's not ideal to have different aged chicks, but the woman I got the chicks from felt that they were close enough in age that it wouldn't matter. So far she's been right.
Also, an unrelated question...
3) Is it okay to feed the chicks earthworms? I caught a few ants the other day and I have slowly been feeding them to the older chicks. They love it and it is highly entertaining to watch them play keep away. I know grouse chicks eat insects as they develop, so I assume it's fine for chickens. I just wasn't sure about earthworms.
Thanks so much. Clearly I have lot's to learn...