First Time Chick Parents, Spring 2016

[IcyLady]

At two weeks old they will still need some supplemental heat. Yours are close to the same age as mine. Two of mine have learned to fly to the top of my brooder also. I keep a wire mesh lid on my brooder to prevent escapes.

I ended up making a makeshift sort of lid for now and of course left the lamp, I also decided to leave them where they were (which is in my bedroom and probably one of the warmest rooms of the house).

Move elsewhere sure. No heat no. They will still need some sort of heat.


Yeah, I kind of almost jumped the gun with that. After I posted here I was reading a bit more and in the end decided to keep them where they are and with their lamp.
I just find everything so confusing right now because I know the other 5 that were hatched with them aren't getting the same treatment (the woman raising them has been doing this for a long time), and I keep getting told to do different things from people in my area.

 

[Serenashome]

Glad to hear you are doing the MHP too Serenashome! I think there should be a group dedicated to Mama Heating Pad and the natural way of "non-brooder" brooding of baby chicks. We need to connect Been following Blooie and Azygous too. I'm a total noob here too and don't even know all the in's and out's of BYC yet. Not sure a special interest group can even be supported?

I've no idea but the amount of really solid advice is fabulous. Hard to find real time advice that fits to what you want to do on the internet probably because they are all here in one place. So we may very well have joined a special interest group already.

You've got two really good names up there to follow. @aart has helped us more than we can say as well.

 

[MiniIndyRanch]

If you move the ecoglow out with them then they should be fine and will likely finish feathering in even quicker. That's about the age when I've been kicking mine outside. They have huddle boxes and a homemade lectro-kennel heating pad cave to get out of the wind/warm up under if need be. The only ones who really used them during the day were the Silkies.

I like the idea of a huddle box, and will get that in there for them!

Well, I moved the chicks out to the horse stall. They were all sleeping when I checked on them before bed. I went to check on them this morning and everyone was awake happily chirping away! It looks like they aren't using the Ecoglow to sleep under so much anymore, just for re-warming occasionally. 4 of my girls are almost fully feathered and almost 4 weeks old, the younger three are getting there!


This picture was from Saturday - so they are even a bit more feathered now.


And here is the new set up in the barn. (Probably should have mentioned, its not a wooden barn on dirt floor - its solid concrete w/out drafts when the windows are closed) I added a roost bar after taking this picture. A couple of the older girls seem to want to rest higher up lately, hence the moving them out of my livingroom.

 

[Blooie]

First time posting, not sure if I'm in right spot but I am picking up chicks in a couple days. My friend set up cardboard box with heat lamp, I'm terrified that it isn't safe or it won't be warm enough. Has anyone used this setup successfully? Are chicks as fragile as l literature says? Thank you for any info.

You might look into this...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

For myself and hundreds of other people, we'll never use heat lamps again.

Heat lamps can be risky enough - add them to a cardboard box and real problems can begin.

 

[AmandaMBG]

You might look into this...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

For myself and hundreds of other people, we'll never use heat lamps again.
[/URL]

Reminds me I need to make sure I turn my heat lamp in the coop off today now that ik for sure the found their mama heating pad. That stupid thing keeps them up all night as well. Went in there at midnight and they were all acting like it was the middle of the day.

 

[magicstorm]

Mine are up all night too! I did add little boxes that have overhangs that are a little bit darker inside and they do sleep in there at night some. But I sure wish I had seen the momma heating pad thing before now. Mine are probably only a week away from no light, they are in the garage and I live in Florida so it's been 85 everyday so during the day they have no heat lamp at all and are probably only a week away from none even in the evening so I'll save the idea for next time! LOL

 

[AmandaMBG]

Ya it's was 83 here yesterday but our temps have been all over the place this spring.we are usually in 90+ weather here consistently by now. If it wasn't for the weird weather they wouldn't even have any supplemental heat here even at just 3 weeks.

Mine are up all night too! I did add little boxes that have overhangs that are a little bit darker inside and they do sleep in there at night some. But I sure wish I had seen the momma heating pad thing before now. Mine are probably only a week away from no light, they are in the garage and I live in Florida so it's been 85 everyday so during the day they have no heat lamp at all and are probably only a week away from none even in the evening so I'll save the idea for next time! LOL

 

[OEF5]

Our chicks go to bed at dusk, and if we leave the light on, Chocobo informs us that she can't sleep like that! They all wake up and come out between 0545 and 0600. They all run to the food and water and then start scratching at what dirt is left from the sod we put in.

They found two worms in the sod, needless to say the worms were not happy lol.

It's been an awesome week, and since they can see us all the time through the glass, they don't get spooked at all when we open it, they even come running when you stick your face up to the glass. It's great for my grandson to be able to watch them. He's 4, and he saw one stretch for the first time he said "Ma ma, look she is growing her legs!"

 

[AmandaMBG]

That is so cute!!!

He's 4, and he saw one stretch for the first time he said "Ma ma, look she is growing her legs!" 

 

[Jens Hen House]

Why do my chicks lean to the side when they lay down??? They seem to act normal except for this one thing