The Bantom Boutique crew are finally in their news digs. I moved them to their outdoor home about a week ago. I usually wait till they are 6 weeks old before making the big transition but given the very warm weather we are having I thought they would do better outdoors. They still need their little heater during the night, but during the day they are busy exploring their new home.

Making the big transition from brooder to coop takes a bit of care and good timing. One reason that I usually get a May hatch date for all my new chicks is the ability to move them outdoor sooner than a cooler hatch date would allow. Once the are mostly feathered out I start planning their big moving day. I have found that the best time to move chick outdoors is a night. During this time they are kind of drowsy which makes the transition less stressful on the brood. After carefully arranging the coop to resemble the brooder as closely as I can, I carefully place them one by one in their new home. I allow them to spend at least 48 hours in the coop before I allow them access to the pen. This gives them time to become familiar with their new coop and help them to associate the coop with safety and sleeping. I place their heater, food, and water in the coop along with fresh savings. I also introduce them to roosts. Their coop has plenty of room so they spend the first few days learning about the big outdoors and playing on their roosts.

After about 48 hours I allow them access to their pen. The curiosity with their new surroundings is just so adorable to watch. It is much like a child who experiences Disney World for the first time. Just so many things to do and not enough time. They quickly take to all the open space and have a blast. The first thing that many of the chicks did was dust bathe. This is a natural activity that all chickens do which they find very enjoyable. They don’t need to be taught they just know. Because I have the bottom of their pen filled with sand, they have plenty of dust bathing media. They spent most of  their first day running around and dust bathing. I can say that they absolutely love their new digs.

Although they are officially moved in to their home I still have some work to do. For the first few weeks, at dusk I will have to pick them up one by one and place them in their coop for the night. They will at some point put themselves to bed, but for now they need a little extra instruction. Till they can master the ladder up to the coop I will have to give them a little bit of help. One evening I will go out to put them to bed and find that they are all in the coop and ready to be lock in for the night. It is not very hard to put them to bed I just have to plan a little extra time in my evening to see that they all get into the coop safely.

Andromeda is still with Miss Katie, she will raise the little one for the next few weeks or so till she starts to push the little one away to make its own way in the world. At this time I will reintroduce the little chick to the Bantom Boutique flock. I will do a later post on my procedure to successfully integrate the little chick back into the flock. But for now, everyone is happy and enjoying life in the big outdoors here at the Kuntry Klucker Farm.

As always thank you for spending a little time with the girls and I, we are so glad that you stopped by. Till next time, keep on clucking.

~ The Kuntry Klucker and Bantom Boutique Crew ~