Hello good people,
I have been laboring tirelessly to get my cage brooders in shape... I never realized there's so much of work involved and I am generally a couch potato lol.... I hate working!
Anyway, so I finally moved out of my make shift brooder box with incandescent bulbs for heating....
It was such a disaster raising chicks in there since they pooped so much and changing the water-er twice daily...
So I moved into these cages as soon as I could....
and then I connected ceramic heat bulbs overhead thinking that these were the best option.... I had burnt myself so many times... they heat up like a stove and I presume very dangerous
And then I realized that the holes on the cages floors were too large for baby chicks,....... so I had this shade cloth sewn to size for my cages, with the idea of throwing Shavings on top
Only to find out that once the chicks are in they kick most of the shavings out....
So then I had placed all of my chicks in....
Oh the disaster!!.... The naughty lil found a way to get through the net wire to visit their friends in the next cage. I separate them by age.
They also started to jump into the feeding gutter...
And after a lot of inquisitiveness.... they finally found the water source (nipple feeders)
So I had to resort to the below sloppy fencing to disable them from exiting the cages...
OK so some of the issues I need advice on possibly,
1. Is it better for me to get infrared heating bulbs rather?
2. Will the infrared bulbs hanging over head reach chicks on the bottom cages? (I still have to make the bottom cages suitable for chicks)
3. If not, how to I get heat to the bottom cages?
4. Its summer time here in SA, so the day temperatures are very very high. How do i regulate the cage heaters?
5. What is the best temperature for chicks aged 1 day to 4 weeks old.... I have them in separate cages.
6. How many chicks per cm is recommended? I find many of them dead and trampled upon on a daily basis.
7. How do I prevent the shavings from falling out of the cage? I want to sell the shavings as Chicken litter (manure)
8. and lastly, please advice on how to administer the following inoculations
I have been laboring tirelessly to get my cage brooders in shape... I never realized there's so much of work involved and I am generally a couch potato lol.... I hate working!
Anyway, so I finally moved out of my make shift brooder box with incandescent bulbs for heating....
It was such a disaster raising chicks in there since they pooped so much and changing the water-er twice daily...
So I moved into these cages as soon as I could....
and then I connected ceramic heat bulbs overhead thinking that these were the best option.... I had burnt myself so many times... they heat up like a stove and I presume very dangerous
And then I realized that the holes on the cages floors were too large for baby chicks,....... so I had this shade cloth sewn to size for my cages, with the idea of throwing Shavings on top
Only to find out that once the chicks are in they kick most of the shavings out....
So then I had placed all of my chicks in....
Oh the disaster!!.... The naughty lil found a way to get through the net wire to visit their friends in the next cage. I separate them by age.
They also started to jump into the feeding gutter...
And after a lot of inquisitiveness.... they finally found the water source (nipple feeders)
So I had to resort to the below sloppy fencing to disable them from exiting the cages...
OK so some of the issues I need advice on possibly,
1. Is it better for me to get infrared heating bulbs rather?
2. Will the infrared bulbs hanging over head reach chicks on the bottom cages? (I still have to make the bottom cages suitable for chicks)
3. If not, how to I get heat to the bottom cages?
4. Its summer time here in SA, so the day temperatures are very very high. How do i regulate the cage heaters?
5. What is the best temperature for chicks aged 1 day to 4 weeks old.... I have them in separate cages.
6. How many chicks per cm is recommended? I find many of them dead and trampled upon on a daily basis.
7. How do I prevent the shavings from falling out of the cage? I want to sell the shavings as Chicken litter (manure)
8. and lastly, please advice on how to administer the following inoculations