Moving Right Along - Chick Update
- Kelly Moravec
- Jun 25
- 4 min read
Muppets Fozzie and Kermit sang "Movin' right along we're truly birds of a feather, We're in this together, And we know where we're going." And now the chicks know their new home!
By the end of May, the chicks were already getting too big for their cardboard brooder box, and we knew we needed to think about moving them.
This set of chicks has grown faster than any of our previous groups. Their feathers came in swiftly. Within a week after we got them, their tail feathers were growing in, and two days after that all chicks except one had full tails and shoulder feathers.
The chicks proved their hardiness by preferring to sleep in the far corners of the brooder box even though we continually raised the heating lamp and there were some chilly nights, including some hard frosts into late April. By April 21, the chicks were full of feathers coming in on their bodies and all had full tail feathers. By April 23, the chicks were flying and were almost too hard to catch. By April 26, they had to really snuggle together to all fit in the yellow basket (đ). By mid-May they all sported cute crests of feathers on their heads.
So, on a lovely warm late May day, we moved the chicks into the new chicken coop we just built, an Omlet Eglu Cube, outfitted with a 9 ft run, covered with a tarp on one end for shade. Shoutout to my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew for their help building it!!
The coop & run includes wheels and handles to make it into a "chicken tractor" or moveable coop. And move they do!
We carried them one by one from the brooder and placed them directly inside the coop, which has a slated floor for perching and a nest box off to one side. We gathered chairs around the chicken tractor for a proper chicken siesta. For some ideas for your own chicken siesta, check out Drinking with Chickens (a truly fabulous book!) and DAVIDsTEA mocktail recipes.
We spoke words of encouragement to lure the chicks down the ladder to explore the run. They eventually all came down. Around the door and on the ladder they were tentative, but once on the ground they went to work exploring with curiosity.
When it got dark, all on their own, they re-entered the coop. They used the ladder or flew up to the coop entrance door and settled in for the night.
The next day, the chicks were eating and drinking fine out of the new containers. They checked out nest area of the coop and rested there among the cedar shavings. They enjoyed sampling the clover in the run and having the room to flex their wings.
Even though the chicks were all supposed to be females, one turned out to be a boy (it is very difficult to sex newborn chicks). We suspected that was the case really early on, at least by early May. All the signs were there: Larger comb, wattles developing before the others, a forked tail, large breast, and differently colored feathers from the others. On May 22, he crowed! That was the confirmation we were waiting for. By the day before we moved them to the new coop, his comb and wattles were big and bright red, and he was regularly crowing. He crowed fairly constantly throughout the day. By May 29, the five other chicks were clearly females and already looking like pullets, hunching their backs when perching.
Although "Lil Roo" was looking very pretty, and he did not show signs of aggression in the new coop, we did not want to keep him. We do not want fertilized eggs at this time, and we were not sure how our older hens would react to him. In early June, we found a good new home for Lil' Roo, on a farm nearby, with a family who wanted a new rooster for their small flock. We put Lil Roo in a cat carrier and drove him to meet the new family. We told them that Lil Roo's doodles were still pretty quiet and not incessant. And that he got along really well with the other chicks. Hopefully he will like his new home!
Our dog, Emmy, likes to watch over my daily chores with the chicks. German Shepherds are tending dogs, and she takes her job seriously.
Emmy in the same place a couple weeks later, monitoring the now-five chicks:
Every day, I move the coop to a fresh spot, moving it just enough for a new patch of earth to be beneath it. Even though the coop is on the most level ground on the property, the surface is full of ruts, so it is not always easy to move the coop. Slow and steady handling, plus always removing the feeder, waterer, and ladder (ramp) before moving, gets the job done in a matter of a few minutes. The chicks love the new plants and bugs and the scattered bits of chicken kibble I add to the ground for scratching.
The chicks have had to get used to the weather, which has been all over the place - pouring rain, thunder and lightning, hot sun, cool nights. The wind is probably the biggest change for them, after being inside a brooder box inside a fully enclosed building. Here is a punked up chick wondering if it is worth leaving the shelter of the coop:
We are still contemplating names. Once they get a bit older, we can place a small zip tie on one leg to differentiate them, and then we will need to host a name reveal party!
The girls do not seem to miss Lil Roo, and they are thriving, growing ever more. Their new home has proved to be durable and comfortable. They are living the good life, and they are improving the soil health at the same time!
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