The chicks are heading into their 5th week in the brooder and will be ready to move into the coop the following week. This is what I call their transitional week. Their radiant heat source is slowly taken away, and they’ll also lose their all-night red lighting. The first few nights I switch from red lighting to a white night light, then the night light is taken away. By the time they transition from brooder to coop, they will have learned to accept cooler temperatures and total darkness at night. In most parts of the country, chicks are kept in the brooder until they are fully feathered, which is usually around 8 weeks. Here in Phoenix, Arizona, by the end of April temperatures during the day reach about 85-90, lows about 65. Therefore, it’s plenty warm to move the chicks to the coop at about 6 weeks. As you can see, they’re pretty well-feathered already!
The Finished Coop
The coop is an existing 10×10 x walk-in covered dog enclosure converted to a chicken coop. It’s inside a 3 stall covered open air barn, offering them plenty of shade and fresh air. It has taken almost 3 weeks to completely cover the chair link fencing with 1/2 inch hardware cloth. Needless to say, I have spent my self-quarantine time wisely. Unfortunately, my fingers are a mess from working with stubborn wire and zip ties.
Predators have been a problem in the past, we have had our share of traumatic experiences with hawks, bobcats, and coyotes. I’ve lost at 8 birds over the years, with so much time on my hands, this was a good time to put the effort into predator-proofing the coop. Not to mention keeping wild birds from entering the coop and eating all the chicken feed.
Tip: Chicken wire isn’t going to keep your birds safe from predators, always use hardware cloth. Chicken wire can be chewed through or easily bent to give predators access. Also, lay /bury hardware cloth at the base of the coop to prevent digging by raccoons and coyotes, etc. More About Predators
From coop building tips to feeding guides and health care advice, there’s a lot to learn. This post gathers the best tools and guides for every stage of your chicken keeping journey.
Baby Chicks
Raising Baby Chicks
The First 7 Weeks A comprehensive guide to preparing for and managing baby chicks with a step-by-step approach. Read Article/ TBN Ranch
Fecal impaction is a common issue among young chicks and can be fatal if ignored. Learn the signs and how to avoid this problem. Read Article / TBN Ranch
A chick brooder is a specialized enclosure or container created to offer a cozy and secure setting for recently hatched chicks. Here are the many types to choose from. Read Article / TBN Ranch
Managing the Brooder Temperature
This guide aims to assist you in ensuring their comfort by providing insights into their behavior, whether you choose to use a heat lamp or the modern radiant heat alternative. Read Article/ TBN Ranch
Often the stronger or larger birds rank highest in the social order. This article will help you learn how to minimize drama when bullying becomes excessive. TBN Ranch
The primary role of a rooster in a flock of chickens is to fertilize the eggs laid by the hens. Aside from fertilizing eggs, roosters also play a protective role in the flock. Continue Reading/ TBN Ranch
Seasonal Chicken Keeping
Keeping Chickens in Extreme Heat
Is your chicken yard and coop adequately designed to support the overall welfare of your flock during the summer season? It is crucial to make necessary preparations for extreme heat to prevent your birds from experiencing heat exhaustion and related issues. Read Article / TBN Ranch
Are you interested in a traditional design, something unique and unconventional, a do-it-yourself project, or maybe a more elaborate setup? View Now / TBN Ranch
Drinkers / Waterers
So many to choose from, but which one best fits your flock’s needs? Auto-fill, nipple, standard fill, or DIY, view them all in one convenient place HERE/ TBN Ranch
Nest boxes play a vital role in supporting both chickens and their caretakers, offering a range of benefits. Discover numerous suggestions to assist you in selecting perfect nest boxes. View Now / TBN Ranch
Creative Roost Ideas
There are so many different types of roosts, which one is best for your coop? Your birds need something suitable to roost on at night. Be creative! Here are over 50 types to inspire you. View Now / TBN Ranch
There are several common outdoor plants that are generally considered toxic to chickens, which makes it important for poultry owners to be aware of these potential hazards. Read ArticleTBN Ranch
There exists a wide array of exquisite chicken breeds, each presenting its own unique qualities. We will delve into the particulars, including temperament, egg size, egg color, egg production, and primary use. Breed Profiles/ TBN Ranch
The quality and safety of eggs can differ due to various factors, such as storage methods and whether they are raw or cooked. Nevertheless, I can provide you with fundamental safety guidelines. Read Article / TBN Ranch
Hatcheries for Mail-Order Chicks
Hatcheries
Explore my collection of top-notch hatcheries. I’ve have personally purchased chicks from many of these hatcheries and have been consistently satisfied. Read Article / TBN Ranch
Research, Plan, and Prepare, Everything you Need to Know
Raising chicks can be easy if you just do your homework before you buy. Knowing when to plan for your chicks’ arrival is also something to take into consideration. Of course, it makes good sense to have your coop set up and supplies ahead of time. But it would also be helpful to be informed of what’s new in today’s chicken-keeping market. For example, the use of radiant heat instead of heat lamps, or all the new ideas for drinkers and feeders that are designed to save you time and money. Before you bring home chicks you’ll need a brooder box to raise them until they are fully feathered. Need help choosing the best type? No problem, here are a ton of ideas, BrooderBox Ideas. It can be anything from a cardboard box to something more extravagant as shown in the pics below. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but it needs to be convenient for you to manage, and be comfortable for your chicks. See more Brooder pics. While your chicks are in the brooder, you’ll have plenty of time to get their coop ready. Whether a DIY project or not, every coop size and style imaginal can be found HERE. Research, have a plan, be prepared, and know what to expect, these four things will help ease your commitment so there’s more time to enjoy your birds. It’ll be helpful to have some understanding of Basic Chicken Terminology, this reference article will help you through the maze of chicken lingo.
If you are raising bantams, day-old, or mail-order chicks who may be weak from their long journey, line the brooder box with paper towels for the first week. Use a drinker and feeder designed specifically for chicks and place it directly on the paper towels. Your chick’s feed is readily available at all feed stores, ask for Chick Starter. The bag will say Chick Starter or Chick Starter/Grower, they’re the same. You have one other feed detail to decide upon, Medicated or Non-Medicated. This is a feed containing antibiotics. Personally, if my chicks are mail-ordered from a hatchery, I feed them medicated for the first week. If bought from a feed store and the chicks are a week old, I feed non-medicated. Sometimes, baby chicks act lethargic or weak from either a long trip or other stressful conditions. In this case, you may want to give them a little electrolyte boost for two or three days. Simply add Sav-a-Chick electrolytes to their water source. It’s available anywhere chicks are sold, also on Amazon.
What to Expect…..
Your baby chicks will arrive in a box similar to this.
If you bought your chicks from a feed store, they’re probably a few days to a week old, and most likely accustomed to pine shavings for their bedding. It’s okay to continue using pine shavings at this point. This will help keep the brooder smelling fresh, changing it every day is good practice. Your chicks will need enough space to move freely, and after the second week will need the box covered with chicken wire. One-half of the brooder shouldn’t have a heat source at all. The other, preferably radiant heat which will be further explained later in this article. Watch for poopy or pasty butts! This is a common problem usually bought on by stress, or uncomfortable living conditions during the first two weeks. Using a wet paper towel, or baby wipes, clean those fuzzy butts because this condition hinders fecal elimination… which is often fatal. As your chicks become more active, keeping the food & drink sources clean is challenging, so here are a few tips. Raise the drinker to the height of the smallest chick’s back, this will minimize the litter from landing in their water. Use bricks, 2×4 pieces, flower pot saucers, or even a bowl upside down will do the trick. Tip: Set their feeder in something that will catch the feed they scratch out, this will substantially minimize feed waste. Be creative, use a flower pot saucer, a pie tin, etc.
Temperature Control in the Brooder, Radiant Heat vs Heat Lamps
Keeping the temperature right can be a chore, especially if you depend on a heat lamp. You’ll spend a good deal of time raising and lowering it during the day as temperatures change, which is exactly why I rarely use them. I never raise chicks indoors, they’re always kept in a shed or garage during a time when overnight temperatures seldom drop below 55-60. Heat lamps have their place, but I only use them if a cold spell occurs before my chicks reach a month old. My primary heat source is radiant heat. It doesn’t heat the brooder, it only provides warmth when the chicks settle underneath it. Your chicks will be happiest if they can touch the surface, so keep the unit nice and low, you can easily raise it as they grow. Radiant heat is certainly more natural, chicks have been settling under their mothers in cool climates to keep warm since somewhere around 6000 BC! Radiant heat is a sufficient heat source for chicks if the ambient temperature is at least 55 degrees. Again, this is why seasonal planning for your chick’s arrival is important. Keep a thermometer inside the box to monitor the temperature, but watching the chick’s behavior is the best indication of their comfort. Rule of Thumb: If they’re huddled together, they’re cold. If some are eating or drinking, others sleeping, and the rest under radiant heat, you have happy chicks. There’s no worry about your chicks finding the radiant heat, place them under it when you bring them home and they will return to their comfort zone all on their own. Note: Important Fact about Radiant Heat: The thermometer in the brooder should read at least 55 degrees. You won’t feel the heat when placing your hand under the radiant heat unit unless you touch the plate. Remember, radiant heat doesn’t heat the brooder at all, only the chicks when they are under it… so try not to stress over what seems cold to you. What If There’s A Cold Spell? If it’s necessary to use a heat lamp on a chilly night, avoid placing it directly over the chicks when radiant heat is available to them. A heat lamp near the coop to keep the ambient temp around 55 degrees works well. Note: Heat lamps for chicks in feed stores are almost always only available at 250 watts. That is a lot of heat! You already have a heat source, so there’s no need to blast them with a 250-watt heat lamp. There’s an easy fix to that, 50, 75, and 100-watt heat bulbs are easily found on Amazon, choose a wattage that will keep the ambient temp at or around 55 degrees. You can often find lower-wattage heat bulbs at pet stores in reptile supplies. Always use a red bulb, the light from the clear bulb is too bright and the chicks may become agitated, which inevitably leads to the unwanted problem of frustrated chicks pecking each other.
Keeping Chickens Indoors? There is no need for a heat lamp at all if you use radiant heat. They will be much happier with natural lighting and far less likely to have pasty butts, which often is the culprit of chick fatality. But, there are drawbacks to raising chicks indoors, I won’t tell you not to, but here are three reasons why I don’t. First, when chicks are ready to be moved to the coop they’ll need to acclimate to harsher weather conditions and fluctuating temperatures. Second, by the time they are three weeks old, well… they’ll stink, to put it bluntly. Trust me, You’ll be cleaning their brooder box constantly and wishing they were anywhere but your living space. They will also be very active in what has probably become very cramped quarters at about three weeks old. And Third, chicks mature slower. The rule of thumb is to keep chicks at a controlled temperature until they are fully feathered, which is somewhere around 5 -7 weeks. Chicks raised in cooler temperatures with a moderate heat source are often fully feathered earlier. To sum it all up… plan to buy chicks when they’ll be comfortable in a garage or outdoor shed using primarily radiant heat. This will depend on where you live, for most folks it’s springtime. For others, like the lower desert southwest, mid-February. Three weeks is a good time to introduce a perch for your chicks. A tree branch or one-inch dowel rod will be sufficient. They’ll be reluctant to explore this strange new object, but in a day or two their curiosity will get the best of them. Learning to perch now aids in their transition to roost as adults. Why is this important? It’s good practice to keep nest boxes clean for obvious reasons… and hens sleeping where they lay is anything but. In every coop a roosting bar should be provided, it is instinctual for birds to roost elevated, so this won’t be a difficult task to accomplish. There are however exceptions to the rule of roosting. Silkie Bantams are often reluctant to venture any higher than 3 feet… if at all. Three weeks is also the perfect time to introduce a little grass for them to enjoy, but there are three rules. 1, No long pieces. 2, Not too much. And 3, Have grit available in the brooder to help them digest this strange new food. The grass is a good distraction to an array of possible problems in the brooder as well, such as pecking each other, or bullying. It keeps them busy! Just keep in mind, problems always occur for a reason. Most commonly, overcrowding, bright lights, or undesirable temperatures. Moving Day, Brooder To Coop: When your chicks are fully feathered they are ready to leave the brooder and be moved to the coop. It should be well-ventilated, spacious enough to include a roost bar, and have shelter from wind, rain, inclement weather, and protection from the sun. Provide at least one nest box for every two birds. Two square feet of ground space per bird would be adequate, but the more space you give your flock the better. Crowding is the perfect recipe for bullying when establishing early and continual pecking orders. Feed and water should be elevated to the height of the smallest bird’s back, this will help keep their food and water clean. You can either hang them, or simply find something stationary such as bricks, or a cinder block. Note: Some chicken keepers prefer to move their chicks to a grow-out pen before the coop. This is just a smaller coop where they’re housed until bigger. Grow-out pens are especially important if you have an existing flock, where a whole new set of rules applies for introductions. Diet / The First Egg At the point of lay, (5-6 months) your birds are ready for a change in their diet. This is the perfect time to switch from chick starter/grower, to Layer Pellets. You can expect the first egg from your pullets anytime now.
Don’t Forget to Protect your Flock from Predators! Watch out for these guys! They are bad news.
CoyoteRacoonsHarris HawkBobcats
Don’t think for a minute that your flock is immune to a predator attack. There’s no place on the planet where chickens are safe from predators…. not even in your suburban backyard. And guess what, not in your coop either, unless you’ve made every effort to predator-proof every nook and cranny. That means, no animal will be able to dig under the coop or get in over the top. It means there are no gaps around doors and windows, and the coop door has a secure latch to keep them safe at night.
Looks like you’re ready to bring those babies home, enjoy the journey!
TBN Ranch Chicken Keeping Resources 