# Does anyone raise chicks outside?



## gonepostal (Dec 27, 2009)

I do not mean hen raised chicks, but chicks that you hatch or buy?

I seem to recall a topic on a message board that I go to about this, but it's been a long time ago. Since I can no longer have chicks in the house, I was trying to figure out a way to raise them outside. I know that I could make a brooder and put it on the porch with a light. I wonder if I have a closed off area (free from drafts for colder times and night time) and the rest hardware cloth as well as locks that animals cannot get in to, if it would work. Surely some people do it this way? Would love advice, ideas, what has (or hasn't, as the case may be) worked for you, etc.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

There are a number of ways to raise chicks in an enclosed, cold building. The most prominent is a kerosene heated "brooder"

All you really need is a draft free place, that you can put your brooder in. A big round or square box, upside down, with a heatsource inside to keep the critters warm. 

http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/vita/poultry/EN/POULTRY.HTM is one type of outdoor brooder. (well, inside a building, but out of the house)


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## egg head (Nov 11, 2009)

We raise all our chicks out doors and it did dip down to 18 degrees for about a week when they were two weeks old. The idea is as mentioned, a draft free environment. We use a 250 watt I.R heat lamp and then switch over to a 100 watt. We will be using a heat lamp with a dimmer switch when I get around to it. That way we can just adjust the temperature as the birds get older. At five weeks it's lights off and they do fine. A rabbit type cage will work just fine with a blanket over it. Check it once in a while so that the chicks don't get to hot. If the chicks are huddled under the lamp lower it, if they are far away from the lamp raise it. Best temerature gauge in the world. hope the best to you.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

We are fortunate enough to have a pottingshed/well house that we brood in. We put pine needles down on the concrete floor and hang heat lamps from the ceiling. They can get under when they are cold and walk around when they are warm. But we do wait a week or two before putting them out.
We pen an area outside the door and they wander outside when they are still very small.
They spend the day pecking and sunbathing and go back in when they need a warm up.
When they are big and it is warm enough, they move to the barn.


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## gonepostal (Dec 27, 2009)

Sounds wonderful! Thank you all for the input. I may have Spring chicks after all, much to hubbys chagrin! ;-)


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## eross230 (Apr 28, 2006)

All of the above are good! I raise mine outside unless it the temperatures are brutal (as it is right now ie -10). I think the chicks feather out earlier, are generally hardier, and seem to be healthier than they are when raised in an artificially controlled environment. You may lose a few, but I figure they were probably weak to begin with. Are you planning to incubate the eggs? Or, buy day olds. I find that the incubated chicks fare better that the shipped chicks. This is probably because they (incubated) don't go through the shipping stress.


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## lauriej57 (Nov 20, 2008)

I raised mine outside this year. I have two coops, the smaller coop has a chicken wire divider, making one area for new chicks or chickens, and the smaller area, about 2'x2' for possibly injured birds. We put a heater in the small area, and the chicks in the other area. The heater would shut off when the coop reached a certain temperature, and it was safe, because we kept it against the wall, and the chicks could come closer or further away if needed. I did have to put up about a six inch wooden divder in the beginning, because baby chicks can through chicken wire.

It all worked well, but I'm still figuring out how to perfect it for next spring. At night, when temperatures dipped into the 30's, the heater ran nonstop all night, and the cost of the electric was way tooooo high! I think hubby just might let me raise some in the house this spring, if I only have 4 or 6, which is what I am thinking this next spring.

I'm not sure how it's possible to regulate the temperature with a heat light. Though it might work, since my chicks can move closer or further away from the heat source, as long as it doesn't heat the coop up to much. I will have to experiment with that in the spring, before I get chicks.


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## gonepostal (Dec 27, 2009)

eross230 said:


> All of the above are good! I raise mine outside unless it the temperatures are brutal (as it is right now ie -10). I think the chicks feather out earlier, are generally hardier, and seem to be healthier than they are when raised in an artificially controlled environment. You may lose a few, but I figure they were probably weak to begin with. Are you planning to incubate the eggs? Or, buy day olds. I find that the incubated chicks fare better that the shipped chicks. This is probably because they (incubated) don't go through the shipping stress.


I sold my big incubator and do not think I will be getting another so will have to buy some. Not sure if I will go local or have them shipped in. It all depends on if I find what I want locally or within a few hours driving distance.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

My grandma had a special brooder house where she raised her chicks. The building was only for raising chicks until they were big enough to go in with the old hens. She had a 100 foot long cardboard strip, about 2 feet tall (where she got that I have no idea) that she would set up as a draft barrier. At first she had the cardboard set up for a small circle and expanded it as the chicks grew. She had a heat lamp that hung from the ceiling and was set about 6 inches off the floor at the beginning. The heat lamp held 4 flood light size 75 watt bulbs and had a metal bracket underneath that hung down maybe 10 inches. Food and water were placed at the edge of the barrier. She raised chicks that way for decades, through some pretty nasty spring storms and cold spells. She lost very few chicks.


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## moore_farm (Jan 11, 2006)

I keep mine out in the shed I buy 25 Rock-Cornish once a month all year round. They are in a commerical style brooder just keep and eye on them and your temp until they have feather and you will be alright.


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## karenbrat1 (Jun 25, 2009)

Yup -- draft free is the big issue -- I raise mine in the unheated barn or shed, they get stinky and dusty FAST if you have them in the house. I cobbled together a 4' x 4' cage 2' high made of 2x2s, the whole top is the lid. Sides and top covered with small chicken wire and the bottom foot lined with plywood to keep out drafts. There is no bottom to the cage, it just sits on the floor and I fill with shavings. Inside this is a 2' square Ohio-style brooder (see plamondon.com) with a light inside -- it's so small all it needs is a 100 watt bulb. This is big enough to start 50 chicks.


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## duckidaho (Dec 31, 2008)

Along the same lines, I want to raise mine outdoors too. I have an old henhouse that is small and I could put a cardboard brooder and heat lamp inside it. I just worry that when you open the door to the henhouse a blast of cold air would rush in. Is that too much of a draft if it's only for a few seconds?


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## Sanza (Sep 8, 2008)

Occasional cold air won't hurt the chicks, it'll just freshen the air. As long as the chicks aren't piling up you're good. 
I use a large 3X4' box and have a 4X4' plywood box around that (2 sets of 2 four foot pieces of plywood on hinges), then I have a 2X4 over top to hold the heat lamp, and another 4X4' piece for the lid. If it's really cold I cover it with a quilt. This is in my unheated garage and the chicks usually move out there when they are 2 weeks old.


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## roolover (Jul 16, 2007)

We built a 4 ft X 8 ft brooder on the (unheated) back porch. Lined the sides with cardboard and suspended a heat lamp from the ceiling. Started batches of 25-50 chicks in there all last spring and early summer. 

Worked great except for the nasty storm that took out the electricity and all the (day old) chicks and turkey poults freaked out and jumped into the waterers. There we were... at 2 AM with arms full of chicks huddled around the wood stove in the dining room... Ahhhh, every chicken lovers dream!


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

We brood in the coop. Close it up, hang a couple of lights and add your chicks.
We usually wait till June to do anything anyway so it's not too big of a deal.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

I have raised 100's and 100's in my "Mother Hen" many times below freezing temperature but the mother hen would be warm and comfy.








Inside.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Your mother hen is beautiful! Would you please share instructions on how it is made?


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

Fire-Man said:


> I have raised 100's and 100's in my "Mother Hen" many times below freezing temperature but the mother hen would be warm and comfy.
> View attachment 91555
> 
> Inside.
> View attachment 91556


Hi Fireman. Did you restart you birds? Bought 6 chicks this spring but changed my mind and rehomed after a week.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

Forcast said:


> Hi Fireman. Did you restart you birds? Bought 6 chicks this spring but changed my mind and rehomed after a week.


I bought 50 chicks in the later part of march and some just started laying a few weeks ago. I sold them allin the last 2 weeks. Chicken-less again?? Not sure what I am going to do with chickens in the near future. I would love to have about 3500 so I could sell about 130 a week, But that dream doesn't look like its going to happen. I had about 6 Chicken auctions a few years back with in 1 1/2 hrs of me, but now only 3 and 1 of those only sells once a month and the closest is having a lot of problems keeping the doors open, so that dream is Not going to happen and if I can only sell a few a week----I am not interested.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

Danaus29 said:


> Your mother hen is beautiful! Would you please share instructions on how it is made?


Its a 300 gallon watering barrel that had a messed up valve plug I bought at Auction for $35. Several friends told me right after I won the bid that it would not hold water---I LOL and told them I did not want it to hold water anyway. It has 3 incandescent bulbs for heat in the "top" as you can see one on and the other 2 were not on when the pic was taken. The 2 outer bulbs are on a thermostat so they cycle on and off as needed with the thermostat. It has a vent in the end you can see if you look close. The skirt is a old towel I attached all the way around and slit it so the chicks could walk in and out---like if they were under their mother. I put a wire floor that is laying on a 2x4 wood frame so its elevated a couple inches off the dirt and I put news paper down so it makes cleaning under the floor easier. So when I get ready to change the paper I lift the barrel and it leans against the fence, I then pick up the wire floor, remove the poop/newspaper, put down fresh paper, replace the wire floor and place the barrel back on the bricks on the corner. The chicks just stay out the way while I am doing this 2 minute choir.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Thanks for the info. It was a really great idea.


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## HaikuHeritage (Jan 2, 2021)

Fire-Man said:


> I have raised 100's and 100's in my "Mother Hen" many times below freezing temperature but the mother hen would be warm and comfy.
> View attachment 91555
> 
> Inside.
> View attachment 91556


I love this SOOOOO much!


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## NEPA (Feb 21, 2015)

I raised chicks on the floor of a storage shed for many years using lamps for heat. Then one year lost 25 broiler chicks one night to a weasel. Bites in the back of the neck, and didn't even take any to eat. Before ordering replacements I built a brooder off the floor using 1/4" hardware cloth on front, top, and bottom. Plywood on back and sides. Brooder is 2' x 8', and dividers allow me to section off as needed. Still use heat lamps. Has worked great for 4 years now.


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