Yes! Yes! Yes! This is the answer to flighty birds. They always run to the corner of the brooder and hide.
Thank you sooo much for writing this article. Even though it's January I am going to start working on my brooder now!
Really interesting to see the evolution of chicken raising! I agree about brooding in cooler temps. We started ours upstairs for a few days while they got their sea legs, then moved them down to our 50 degree basement (with a heat plate of course). They did outstanding! Feathered very quickly, and were able to start enjoying the outdoors by 3 weeks. We'll be attempting chick integration next spring, and I'm going to utilize the advice in this article (do it early, escape portals, etc.)
I know this is an old article but im definitely considering changing things up for my 5 day old chicks and perhaps getting them outside with the big girls sooner than anticipated. Great article!
After reading your article I went out to my chicken run and decided it was a good time to see how the chicks would do outside, we are between 70's during the day and getting down to 50's at night. we had a small coop that that the Big Girls don't use any more. Since we only have the 2 chicks it will be just the right size for them and it is completely secure and it is inside the run so the rest of the girls can see them but not touch.
This is a really good idea. The chicks are always scared when I reach my hand in their brooder (the predator mimicking is so true). I always try to reach in as slow as possible, but it's pretty hard to catch chicks when you're in slow motion .
I've raised chicks I bought at the feed store for 10+ years. They all ended up terrified of me as adults when I fed them in their pen. Now I know why. I will try to copy azygous' chick raising methods that work so well. I want my chicks to trust me and not run for their lives when I go to feed them.
Fantastic. I raised a few batches of week old chicks in the house. The last batch I made a new brooder in the garage- hardware cloth sides. These chicks are just like yours and now also thriving in my barn grow up coop. I can't wait to read the heating pad thing because that's what I've been using! I wrap it in a plastic table cloth fresh for each batch, and tape it inside the roof of a shoe box. They love the warm cave. This really affirmed my gut instincts and I'll continue to raise bold, friendly, and healthy chicks in this manner.