Surprise chicks, help please!

[BantyChooks]

good! no one can withstand the power of peepers for long.... LOL

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
What kind of reptile light are you using on them? You want a light which is Not a heat lamp. As I remember these reptile lights heat objects within their range of influence. Now incandescent bulbs throw heat as a result of being on and this general heat will warm things in their range of influence. Think of a red or purple heat lamp. When you put your hand under it, it gets hot real fast. When you put your hand under an incandescent blub, it is just warmed by the general heat put out by the light. You can keep your hand under it much longer than the heat lamp. These chicks will do fine if you just use a 60-80 watt incandescent light bulb.
Here is a great website with a wonderful example of an easy to make brooder just fine for these chicks : http://www.poultryhelp.com/brooders.html Use the 85 watt blub and make sure it is not coated with Teflon. Teflon outgasses carbon monoxide which kills birds of any age. Since you only need one brooder, just cut the lid in half.
For flooring:
For the 1st week floor the brooder with paper towel and cover it with that waffle weave drawer liner. It gives them good footing . if I gets dirty, just throw it away and re-floor it. Get a small bag of chick grit and sprinkle it on the floor the last 2 days of the 1st week.
After the 1st week, go to tractor Supply and et the white bale of hardwood shavings. Not the yellow bale. Throw out old flooring and add 2-3 inches of shavings.
Feed concerns:
Now you need to raise the feed and waterers on a small platform so they stay the height of the chick's back. Plus it will keep them from throwing chips in their feed and water.
This is a great online blog by Nutrena. Lots of good info here, clearly stated. If you join the blog, every so often they post a 2.00 of coupon for their feeds.
http://scoopfromthecoop.nutrenaworld.com/category/poultry-nutrition/
Best Success,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Also, gently, stretch out a wing of each chick and take a picture of the wing feathers looking down upon them from the top. Put the palm of your hand gently under the wing to support it so I can see all of the feathers looking down from the top. This must be done in the next 24 hours. Post them here and we will see if the birds can be feather sexed. If so, I can tell you the sex of each chick. Must be done in the next 24 hours tho or it ill be too late, smile.
Best,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
On another note, it is possible your hens might adopt these chicks. You will know right away if they do. Might want to intro the chicks to the hens and closely watch what happens. If they peck the chicks and try to harass them, take them away and raise them yourself. If they cuddle and try to keep them warm, you may have solved your problem right there. if you have a hen, you don't need heat for the chicks. It will not hurt the hens to eat chick feed. But make sure before you do this....these chicks do not have any contagious sicknesses they can pass on to the hens. Ask drumstick diva how to do this.
Best,
Karen

 

[gypsychicken]

You'll be fine, just give them some cornmeal and water, or flour to peck at until the morning. Buy some small hole chicken wire, 4' x 4' x 4' x4', and create their own chicken yard within your chicken yard. Put a box in there for them to sleep in with a piece of fabric to keep the wind out. As long as they are in a covered chicken yard, they will be fine, and it will give your other older gals a chance to get used to them before you acclimate them.

 

[azygous]

I'm going to offer you an alternative, and I hope it doesn't just confuse you. Instead of a Rubbermaid tub and heat lamp, get out your heating pad, and rig it up to form a little tent, like an inverted "v". You can take a cardboard box, fasten a heavy string across the top letting it droop down to three inches from the bottom of the box and drape the heating pad over it. It should be touching the backs of the chicks. It should be the kind that stays on 24/7. Set it at the highest setting.

This is as natural as having a broody hen for them to cover and warm them, and it takes all the guesswork out of trying to get the temperature just right for the chicks, not too hot, not too cool and no fire danger.

Tomorrow, you and your DH can go out to your coop and find an unused corner and rig up a secure chick pen. Move the heating pad out there and find a piece of mesh screen such as hardware cloth or field fencing and shape it like an inverted "u" three inches high. The best thing would be to bungie it to the bottom of the screening, making a soft, warm surface for the chicks to snuggle against. Plug it in at the highest setting.

Drape an old dish towel over the top and cover it with Glad Press'n Seal. Not necessary, but it helps to keep it cleaner.

The advantage of brooding the chicks out in the coop where the older hens can see them is they will be accepted into the flock by virtue of being in proximity to them. This will make integration a breeze later. These chicks of mine are three weeks old and they have already integrated into the flock, having access to the entire run through little chick-size portals you see to the left of the chick cave. My cave is higher than yours will be because my chicks are bigger. You can change the shape of the cave as the chicks grow by squeezing the wire frame to make it higher or lower. At three weeks, mine have the heating pad set to a low setting, their heat requirements being modest due to feather growth.

Your pen can be set up much like mine. I open the portals to the rest of the run when my chicks turn three weeks. Within a matter of hours, they learn where safety is. Food and water is inside the safe pen so the chicks don't need to compete with the adult hens. I keep the safe pen until the chicks no longer fit through the portals, around age three months.

Around age five weeks, I move my heating pad cave into my coop, transitioning my chicks to living in the coop, but if yours is set up in your coop, they're already there. Around age six weeks, they no longer need heat, so take away the cave and let them begin to roost.

You can also rig a safe pen in your run, if it's secure and covered, and has protective sides so weather won't be a problem. This is what I've done since my coops are so small. Whatever works best for you, this system will allow you to keep all the mess outside in the chicken coop where it belongs, and it will make integration of your new chicks into your flock a virtual breeze.

 

[Nickles]

Hi,
What kind of reptile light are you using on them? You want a light which is Not a heat lamp. As I remember these reptile lights heat objects within their range of influence. Now incandescent bulbs throw heat as a result of being on and this general heat will warm things in their range of influence. Think of a red or purple heat lamp. When you put your hand under it, it gets hot real fast. When you put your hand under an incandescent blub, it is just warmed by the general heat put out by the light. You can keep your hand under it much longer than the heat lamp. These chicks will do fine if you just use a 60-80 watt incandescent light bulb.
Here is a great website with a wonderful example of an easy to make brooder just fine for these chicks : http://www.poultryhelp.com/brooders.html Use the 85 watt blub and make sure it is not coated with Teflon. Teflon outgasses carbon monoxide which kills birds of any age. Since you only need one brooder, just cut the lid in half.
For flooring:
For the 1st week floor the brooder with paper towel and cover it with that waffle weave drawer liner. It gives them good footing . if I gets dirty, just throw it away and re-floor it. Get a small bag of chick grit and sprinkle it on the floor the last 2 days of the 1st week.
After the 1st week, go to tractor Supply and et the white bale of hardwood shavings. Not the yellow bale. Throw out old flooring and add 2-3 inches of shavings.
Feed concerns:
Now you need to raise the feed and waterers on a small platform so they stay the height of the chick's back. Plus it will keep them from throwing chips in their feed and water.
This is a great online blog by Nutrena. Lots of good info here, clearly stated. If you join the blog, every so often they post a 2.00 of coupon for their feeds.
http://scoopfromthecoop.nutrenaworld.com/category/poultry-nutrition/
Best Success,
Karen

Oh, great. Thanks so much! I'll go take pics now. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea what kind of bulb it is, I have regular for a lamp light bulbs or this one, it's pretty old and if there's any writing on it I can't read it. The box is warm but not exactly hot, even directly under the light which is sitting about 8 or 9 inches above the bottom of the box. I should take the grass out then? That was the kids idea and it was as good as any I had, they're currently burrowed into a little pile of it looking adorable, but safety and all that obviously trumps cuteness. And I'm only to put food in two days a week, or am I misunderstanding that part?

 

[Nickles]

I'm going to offer you an alternative, and I hope it doesn't just confuse you. Instead of a Rubbermaid tub and heat lamp, get out your heating pad, and rig it up to form a little tent, like an inverted "v". You can take a cardboard box, fasten a heavy string across the top letting it droop down to three inches from the bottom of the box and drape the heating pad over it. It should be touching the backs of the chicks. It should be the kind that stays on 24/7. Set it at the highest setting.

This is as natural as having a broody hen for them to cover and warm them, and it takes all the guesswork out of trying to get the temperature just right for the chicks, not too hot, not too cool and no fire danger.

Tomorrow, you and your DH can go out to your coop and find an unused corner and rig up a secure chick pen. Move the heating pad out there and find a piece of mesh screen such as hardware cloth or field fencing and shape it like an inverted "u" three inches high. The best thing would be to bungie it to the bottom of the screening, making a soft, warm surface for the chicks to snuggle against. Plug it in at the highest setting.

Drape an old dish towel over the top and cover it with Glad Press'n Seal. Not necessary, but it helps to keep it cleaner.

The advantage of brooding the chicks out in the coop where the older hens can see them is they will be accepted into the flock by virtue of being in proximity to them. This will make integration a breeze later. These chicks of mine are three weeks old and they have already integrated into the flock, having access to the entire run through little chick-size portals you see to the left of the chick cave. My cave is higher than yours will be because my chicks are bigger. You can change the shape of the cave as the chicks grow by squeezing the wire frame to make it higher or lower. At three weeks, mine have the heating pad set to a low setting, their heat requirements being modest due to feather growth.

Your pen can be set up much like mine. I open the portals to the rest of the run when my chicks turn three weeks. Within a matter of hours, they learn where safety is. Food and water is inside the safe pen so the chicks don't need to compete with the adult hens. I keep the safe pen until the chicks no longer fit through the portals, around age three months.

Around age five weeks, I move my heating pad cave into my coop, transitioning my chicks to living in the coop, but if yours is set up in your coop, they're already there. Around age six weeks, they no longer need heat, so take away the cave and let them begin to roost.

You can also rig a safe pen in your run, if it's secure and covered, and has protective sides so weather won't be a problem. This is what I've done since my coops are so small. Whatever works best for you, this system will allow you to keep all the mess outside in the chicken coop where it belongs, and it will make integration of your new chicks into your flock a virtual breeze.

What a great setup! We were 50/50 on a heating pad or this lamp, they seem to want to be under something (mama) so I can easily see how well that would work. I need to do a few repairs on the coop anyway so I'll talk to hubs tomorrow and see what he thinks. It's a pretty small coop and we'll have to expand it anyway when the little ones move in, so I don't see the harm on starting it now. He might disagree though, lol.

 

[Nickles]

Hi,
On another note, it is possible your hens might adopt these chicks. You will know right away if they do. Might want to intro the chicks to the hens and closely watch what happens. If they peck the chicks and try to harass them, take them away and raise them yourself. If they cuddle and try to keep them warm, you may have solved your problem right there. if you have a hen, you don't need heat for the chicks. It will not hurt the hens to eat chick feed. But make sure before you do this....these chicks do not have any contagious sicknesses they can pass on to the hens. Ask drumstick diva how to do this.
Best,
Karen

This was my first thought, but Google scared me out of it. Google is terrifying and always expects the worst, lol. My girls are pretty young so I'm not sure if that would make a difference. I think I'd be really nervous with them roaming around all day, too. The girls have the run of the yard until quarter to darkish, all of the other animals are perfectly fine with the girls but I worry these will look too much like little squeaky toys or something.

 

[Nickles]

Also, gently, stretch out a wing of each chick and take a picture of the wing feathers looking down upon them from the top. Put the palm of your hand gently under the wing to support it so I can see all of the feathers looking down from the top. This must be done in the next 24 hours. Post them here and we will see if the birds can be feather sexed. If so, I can tell you the sex of each chick. Must be done in the next 24 hours tho or it ill be too late, smile.
Best,
Karen

These are terrible pictures, I tried... If you have any tips to make them better let me know. They wanted nothing to do with this whole ordeal, lol. Would a darker background help?

Scratch-





Peck -