6 Week old chicks sleeping under coop

[BDutch]

The slippery floor certainly can be a no go for the chickens. And my experience is they prefer lots of fresh air above a rather closed, moistened (poop) and smelly coop.
My rule is to make so much ventilation that the poops dries easily in normal weather and the coop doesn’t smell. Some people are afraid of drafts, I would be more concerned about an unhealthy and darkish coop and sleeping area where parasites can flourish. Chickens often know best where it’s good to sleep. But keep in mind they are not much concerned about safety.

Nice chicks.
The #1 and #2 seem obvious. The blacks #3-4 are not so clear imo and maybe both boys. I would guess the speckled #5 is female. Can you keep one cockerel?

Next steps:
Learning them to roost if they don’t start practicing soon. Approximately 8 weeks is a good moment to start to sleep on a roost bar.
Any ideas what to do if you have more than one cockerel(s).

 

[redinator]

The slippery floor certainly can be a no go for the chickens. And my experience is they prefer lots of fresh air above a rather closed, moistened (poop) and smelly coop.
My rule is to make so much ventilation that the poops dries easily in normal weather and the coop doesn’t smell. Some people are afraid of drafts, I would be more concerned about an unhealthy and darkish coop and sleeping area where parasites can flourish. Chickens often know best where it’s good to sleep. But keep in mind they are not much concerned about safety.

Nice chicks.
The #1 and #2 seem obvious. The blacks #3-4 are not so clear imo and maybe both boys. I would guess the speckled #5 is female. Can you keep one cockerel?

Next steps:
Learning them to roost if they don’t start practicing soon. Approximately 8 weeks is a good moment to start to sleep on a roost bar.
Any ideas what to do if you have more than one cockerel(s).

I can keep them all if I want, but only plan to keep the quietest/easiest to handle males. As long as the neighbors don't complain and they're taken care of we don't have any limits here.

Since I have so few my plan is to try to get a set of chicks from each male then pass along the worst behaved male(s). I have a friend who's willing to take any I don't want, or can't keep.

They already roost on the bars if they aren't huddling for warmth. They've had the chick bars in their brooder since they were 2 weeks and used almost immediately.

There were a few times I'd hear a light thud and the chicks would all start peeping. That would be the sound of a chick falling off the roost bar while sleeping and the others laughing.

 

[BDutch]

I can keep them all if I want, but only plan to keep the quietest/easiest to handle males.

Please read a bit more about keeping cockerels/roosters. Boys mature faster than girls this can be problematic if the cockerel insists to mate. I think the ladies don’t want more than one cockerel to mate and protect them if you only have 2 or 3 with limited space.
The boys probably will fight (maybe even to death if they are kept together in captivity).

 

[redinator]

Please read a bit more about keeping cockerels/roosters. Boys mature faster than girls this can be problematic if the cockerel insists to mate. I think the ladies don’t want more than one cockerel to mate and protect them if you only have 2 or 3 with limited space.
The boys probably will fight (maybe even to death if they are kept together in captivity).

I have the space to setup a bachelor pad and only have one male in the pen with the females at a time.

This is a crude representation of what our property looks like.

Our full property is 50ft by 135ft; the backyard is roughly 50ft by 65ft.

There are two side yards have 4ft high picket fence with gates (blue lines) separating the back yard from the side yards. They both measure about 20ft long by 8-10ft wide. The bold black lines are 6ft high full privacy fences, the red line is a 4ft high chain-link fence on one side of the property.

The grey square w the triangle is their current enclosure w the coop inside, it measures 9ft by 18ft, fully covered with a tarp under the trees for good shade.

The brown square with a rounded square is a 8x10 (possibly 10x12) shed I plan to convert for the chickens as I need the room.

This in the plan if I have 3 males and 2 females:

I plan to make one of our side yards a bachelor pad with 2 'males in waiting' where the other run is out of sight. And have one male in with the 2 hens. If there's any major fights I'll pass the more aggressive male(s) on to my friend who plans to grow them out for meat.

If I have 2 males and 3 females:

I'll set up a second run and have one male per run with 1-2 females get a set of eggs from each male/female pairing, give the girls a break from the males, then swap the males to get a second set of eggs from the second pairing.

Since I hatched so few and I'd like to get up to 10-15 hens and one well behaved and quiet rooster (if there is such a thing), but would rather not buy started pullets. Any males from the hatchings can go to my friends to be grown out for meat.

If I have 4 males and 1 female I'll keep my favorite pair and try again with incubating another set of eggs.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since this is going to be temporary, I'd just pick up a cheap battery-operated camping lantern at Walmart or somewhere. It should only be a few days of you turning it on and off and then remove it once they're trained.

x2, I have a rechargeable LED lantern for gloomy days and that should work fine for the period you need it, no need to mess with permanent installation or solar.

 

[redinator]

x2, I have a rechargeable LED lantern for gloomy days and that should work fine for the period you need it, no need to mess with permanent installation or solar.

So once they're going in on their own they no longer need a light?

 

[rosemarythyme]

So once they're going in on their own they no longer need a light?

Once in and settled, on the roost preferably, though with young birds floor is fine until they learn. Or you can manually place them on the roosts and turn the light off after so they stay put.

 

[redinator]

So I think the crappy weather today did me a favor. It rained hard early this morning so I went to check on the chicks when I got up. They were fine, came out of the coop (I placed them in it last night) pecked around a bit and a crack of thunder scared the crap of them (and me) and they ran under the coop to hide, (I wish I could fit, but it's only 8-10in off the ground).

I decided since the day was gloomy I'd try to get them to go in the coop on their own, since I knew they'd rather huddle up than be out much.

I dumped the pine shaving and put the litter liner on the floor of the coop, removed the dividers in the nest box put fresh water and food in the nest box area. Then encouraged them in the coop with mealworms but they weren't having. They'd stick their heads in and go just a bit past the doorway, but wouldn't go all the way in.

I didn't want to use the light and end up running down the battery in case I needed for a few nights. Instead I opened the front and back door and propped open the lid to the nest box to let in some light.

I went about tiding things up in the run . . . when I turned around two of them were in the middle of the coop eating mealworms and telling the others where the good stuff was.

Counting that as a win, but not wanting to get my hopes up, I went back to the house and just hoped the rest would go in on their own, if not I would have to block the underneath of the coop tomorrow.

I just went to check on them a bit past 7pm and, 5 lil heads popped up, they were all inside the coop. Now I just have to see if this new trend continues, if it doesn't I'll shut them in for a day or two and cross my fingers.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think your coop is too small for 5 chickens. Go out with a tape measure and measure the coop, JUST the coop, where you want the chickens to sleep, enclosed at night, L X W, in feet, and report back. If it is not at least 4 x 5 FEET, it is too small for 5 chickens. If you are measuring it in inches - it is way too small. And that's why they won't go in.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

And if it is not 4 feet x 5 feet, please do not shut those poor birds in that coop!