Building a Chicken Grow Out Brooder Pen with NO MONEY! When to Transition

Building a Chicken Grow Out Brooder Pen with NO MONEY! (when to transition)

 So you're like me you might have staggered hatches and then all of a sudden you don't know where to put all the different age groups of babies.  I feel like every week I keep transitioning chicks in-and-out making bigger grow outs moving new babies in seems to get quite obnoxious.

I've already shown you this grow out pen that was made from used wood and an an old plastic bed liner.  It works really well however it cannot be in the direct sun because the black gets too hot for the chicks.  I have turn around to face the West Sun and thought that I was going to put it on top of a table like structure.  That didn't happen,  my carpentry skills are horrible and I couldn't even lifted up and turn it over so I just left it on its back.  It actually worked out great.  I had our employee create me a new brooder Box to place on top but the smaller babies.  I move them right in and they seem to be doing great.  This Box is made of plywood found in the middle of the road by our business. It must have fallen out of a truck that was heading to the dump.  2 brand new pieces!  Our employee constructed the door that slides and then locks in place,  all I had to do was staple on hardware cloth. 

The temperature is finally changed here in Oklahoma and it's staying in the fifties and sixties in the evening and the eighties and nineties in the daytime.  I have moved all of my Polish 4 week old outside and below them is my Free ranging pullets that I purchased to add to my flock which are about 7 weeks.

 Sometimes I feel that my chicken yard looks like a junkyard but everything is in good order,  they're safe and protected from predators,  they have clean water and food and they're happy.  Sometimes I have to spend the day cleaning up from all my projects that I create through the week and don't finish. I am so ADD!!  For the most part I'm trying to keep pens organized for all my hatching eggs.  From 1 day olds,  to 1 to 3 week olds, 5  to 8 weeks olds. Knowing when to move them to the next brooder, when to let them start free ranging with the big girls, all these thoughts rush through my mind.  So sometimes I change it up but here is the basics.

Remove from incubator and place in a average size rubber made tote equipped with pine shavings, clean water, chick starter and a heat lamp. Keep brooder at 95 degrees the 1st week and reduce by 5 degrees every week. Mine stay in here for 2 weeks or so.

Next, they go to the large black rubber trough.  Equipped the same way, but water and food is raised since they are messy little buggers.  I tilt the heat lamp up a little each week to reduce the brooder temp.

4 to 6 weeks can be a challenge.  If they are fully feathered they are said to be able to go outside. EVERYONE SAYS THAT!  But, in March when its 15 degrees at night, or 35 during the day and rainy and windy, I just cant take the chance to lose my babies.  Also, I have 4 French Cuckoo Maran's that are 4 weeks and still only have feathers on their wings, their head an body are baby peach fuzz, WHATS UP WITH THAT? MARANS!

So now I have these new grow out pens to help me with the transition to the big girl coop.  Everyone suggests to allow your new girls to join your existing flock when they are similar size to your older flock. HAVE YOU SEEN THE SIZE OF MY CHICKENS? Can you say HOSS???  OK, but for real though, It seems to take F-O-R-E-V-E-R for them to get big.  I really feel when they are a little bigger then half the size of your older flock, they can fend well. In my last 2 years, I have had great success with that, except that one time....Tom-Tom decided to grab a baby by the top of its head and fling him around while running. That was not fun at all.  He hasn't done it yet, it was pretty terrible not being able to catch him and help. 

I had 4 grow out pens that I have used this year to finally get my Polish projects going and I've used it to sort my Polish chickens by color for breeding pens.  Have also taken over the pool house to have the large water troughs, rabbit cages,  and Rubber made pens for all the hatching babies and younger grow out.

This is chicken math.

(below  are the photo's )