TooManySteves
Hatching
- Jun 17, 2020
- 4
- 2
- 8
I know this may seem like a basic question, but there are some variables that make it nuanced. I have a coop of 19 guinea fowl and five young chickens. I have getting 15 more baby chicks this week.
I have a brooder cage for them I could put in my house, but it makes a HUGE mess in the one room I can close off from the cats. I’m in Massachusetts and it’s 90° by day, the 60’s by night. I have raised guinea fowl keets right in the coop in the brooder cage on the floor or in small separate screened off room I have in there. Would it make sense and be physically healthy for them to keep the brooder cage in the coop? Or on my back screened in porch? Or in my garage?
On the porch, I’m worried maybe some predator might try to break in and have a snack or that it might be too cold; in the garage I would just be concerned about cold. In the coop, I’d be concerned about maybe bringing the chicks in on day one when they were too small and noisy and maybe it would stress the GF out and make them more aggressive (they accepted the chickens at 8 weeks old with no fights, but I know some times babies look like rats or mice to them). In the coop from day one, I’d also worry about not being able to hand-raise the chicks as easily - let my kids play with them, check on them and change their water and feed as easily in those early more delicate weeks.
Of course whichever location they are in, they will have a heat lamp or a Brinsea chic warmer. If they have to be in my guest room, so be it, I guess, but it is strongly not my preference at all, so input on this is eagerly requested.
I have a brooder cage for them I could put in my house, but it makes a HUGE mess in the one room I can close off from the cats. I’m in Massachusetts and it’s 90° by day, the 60’s by night. I have raised guinea fowl keets right in the coop in the brooder cage on the floor or in small separate screened off room I have in there. Would it make sense and be physically healthy for them to keep the brooder cage in the coop? Or on my back screened in porch? Or in my garage?
On the porch, I’m worried maybe some predator might try to break in and have a snack or that it might be too cold; in the garage I would just be concerned about cold. In the coop, I’d be concerned about maybe bringing the chicks in on day one when they were too small and noisy and maybe it would stress the GF out and make them more aggressive (they accepted the chickens at 8 weeks old with no fights, but I know some times babies look like rats or mice to them). In the coop from day one, I’d also worry about not being able to hand-raise the chicks as easily - let my kids play with them, check on them and change their water and feed as easily in those early more delicate weeks.
Of course whichever location they are in, they will have a heat lamp or a Brinsea chic warmer. If they have to be in my guest room, so be it, I guess, but it is strongly not my preference at all, so input on this is eagerly requested.
