RojoMarz
Crowing
I just wanted to thank @Blooie @aart @feathermaid and @blackdog043 for your articles and threads regarding the mama heating pad and brooding in coop. I can say it works and is much easier than brooding in my house (did that once...won't happen again).
On 4/8, I got 3 SLW's that were hatched on 4/5. They immediately went into the coop brooder (area fenced in under the poop board) along with a mama heating pad. Our nights are still in the 30's and 40's and we've had lots of below freezing nights. The chicks have been fine (even had a couple nights where they had no heat from the heating pad as our power went out and I forgot to turn the heating pad back on). The escape door was added to the brooder last weekend, so they could come/go into the coop. I've also been progressing the chick's freedom by shooing them out of the brooder several times a day. Then I started shooing them out the coop pop door into the run.
I'm happy to say that this morning, when I took the food and water out to the big girls, the 4 week old chicks were in the run with the big girls, just acting like they belonged there. No drama, no pecking, no running. This weekend, the chicks will be kicked out of the brooder, as I plan to shut it down. Next milestone will be them perching.
Thanks again to all for documenting your experience and how to.
On 4/8, I got 3 SLW's that were hatched on 4/5. They immediately went into the coop brooder (area fenced in under the poop board) along with a mama heating pad. Our nights are still in the 30's and 40's and we've had lots of below freezing nights. The chicks have been fine (even had a couple nights where they had no heat from the heating pad as our power went out and I forgot to turn the heating pad back on). The escape door was added to the brooder last weekend, so they could come/go into the coop. I've also been progressing the chick's freedom by shooing them out of the brooder several times a day. Then I started shooing them out the coop pop door into the run.
I'm happy to say that this morning, when I took the food and water out to the big girls, the 4 week old chicks were in the run with the big girls, just acting like they belonged there. No drama, no pecking, no running. This weekend, the chicks will be kicked out of the brooder, as I plan to shut it down. Next milestone will be them perching.
Thanks again to all for documenting your experience and how to.
