My 11 chicks are now 4 weeks old. They are Laced Wyandottes and Cream Legbars and they are all a good size and quite well feathered. They are feisty little demons too.
They spent the first 3 weeks indoors. Then the last 8 days in a bigger secure brooder in a stable. They have had their heat on at night but not in the day and all's well. I expected them to stay in that brooder until they were about 6 wks old but they are too big and it was clear that they didn't have enough room as they started to fight a bit.
Are they old enough to go into the stable itself? We have sectioned off an area about 12ft by 4ft for them. Its a concrete floor with shavings on top but I cant be certain that its rat proof as our stables are wooden. I haven't seen a rat since November and we have 3 stable cats ( they cant get at the chicks!) but I cant be sure. I can still give them heat. What do you think?