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I notice at the place I buy the feed, they also sell chick feed, but you're saying I only need that if I'm raising them without a mama?
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how are they in the pic's???That's great what you are doing JJdent. What you are doing should work out fine. I have been doing the same thing for quite some time. I have a cage out in the garage I usually raise the chicks in before I put them with the rest in the main coops (I have a double roomed coop). This year it has been exceptionally cold and so I built an indoor brooder for the eggs I incubated with my new incubator. I was just fooling around knowing it wasn't the right time of the year. It has dropped to -7 degrees over here in Reno which is why I have the indoor brooder. Once these guys feather out I will move them from the spare room into the bigger brooder in the garage. Here's a pic of the brooder I built with extra stuff from around my property.
And a pic of the little guys inside....
You should be fine.
Stewarts, I agree, you certainly can hatch and raise them in the house. When I started this flock, I bought day old chicks and brooded them indoors in a setup similar to yours. The house soon got dusty and smelly even with frequent attention, but what bothered me most was the idea of what had to be in that dust, including dried poop. Also, I wouldn't say they are healthier for being raised indoors. For one thing, they develop their natural immunity to cocci more readily when raised by a broody and exposed to her poop, which they eat small amounts of, building their intestinal flora. For another, they will usually grow and feather out a little faster under a broody and outdoors, as well as become acclimated to outdoor weather sooner. And of course, it's a lot less work for the human if a broody raises them.
There is nothing wrong with brooding chicks in the house if that is your choice. Certainly many thousands have been successfully raised this way. But the last time I raised chicks in a brooder, it was outdoors, in February. I won't do it indoors again.