Where do you keep your chicks?

[bbchickies]

we sometimes keep them in the garage too because its cool in the winter but good in the summer

 

[debid]

I brood outdoors and I am sure I'm in the minority here. But, a secure structure with good draft protection and a heat lamp works fine and keeps the chick dust and smell out of my house. They produce TONS of dust from feather sheaths. The other nice thing about outdoor brooding is that you don't have to worry about when to move them out -- they already are! Instead, you keep an eye on where they sleep and take out the light when they stop sleeping under it. It couldn't be easier.

Oh, and lest you think I can do this because I live somewhere warm, these chicks were exposed to outdoor temps in the upper teens during their first couple of weeks. I heat a space in the structure with a 175W lamp, not the whole thing. The water was close enough to the light that it didn't freeze but it wasn't exactly toasty away from the light. They were FINE. Really. They're 6 weeks old now and feathered so they're done with the light.

 

[brezlynsmom]

I brood outside also. I was tired of all the dust in the house. If you provide a draft free warm area outside they will be fine. I have a brooder box set up inside my barn (which is not very draft free) but with the box it works great. I am in Iowa and incubate all year around. Many nights are in single digits temp wise

 

[sbpdx]

I kept my girls inside for the first three groups of hens we raised. We kept them under lights in increasingly larger containers until they were fully-feathered.
And it took forever, it was stinky and required regular (one or more bedding changes per day). We stopped that this year and I will never go back.

As soon as the girls were beyond the puff-ball stage (barely) we put them outside in our greenhouse with a heat-lamp. I realize not everyone has a greenhouse, but I think ANY kind of draft free structure will do. We'd let them wander during the warmer parts of the day, and at night they'd faithfully return to their warm lamp and spend the night safely inside.

Two benefits were apparent:

1. The older girls seem to have socialized easily with them. Granted, there is still major pecking-order discipline taking place, but I think that is natural;
2. They got their full set of feathers MUCH faster than any other year we raised chicks. They are tiny little birds right now but fully feathered and self-sufficient. The maturation process seems to advance much more rapidly under these conditions.

I'll never go back to the old "eight week" scenario again.

Good luck!

 

[cajun1]

Mine are in the coop that they will spend the rest of their lives in. I have installed a heat lamp and camera with sound. I can be in my house and watch and hear them in case anyting goes wrong.