I did discover the light trick by accident. We used to leave our outdoor light on in the backyard at night and I noticed they would gather up where the light was hitting the run. Since I started turning the light off they moved to sleeping under the coop, so I was thinking putting a light in the...
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Can you tell us the temperature of the brooder?
Where is the food in the brooder, I see the water?
What are you feeding, including any treats?
The brooder looks quite small for the size and number of birds you have in there. They also look well feathered, so may not need as...
Hi, I recently built a pallet shed to use as a coop, but also feed storage, brooder area, etc. My original thought was that the coop area would be 4x8x4 ft high (and the peaked vented roof) under that area I wanted a spot for a 4x4x4 brooder and a another 4x4x4 area in case I need to separate an...
Your basic question is whether they need access to heat at night. Yes they do. Baby chicks cannot regulate their heat until they are fully feathered out, which is typically around 4 to 5 weeks of age. Until then they need a place they can go to if they need to warm up. At the same time they...
she also hasn’t been teaching them how to eat or drink yet. when i first got the chicks, that was the first thing i did. i put a food and water bowl next to her, and she was eating just fine, but wouldn’t call the chicks over. i don’t think she’s tried feeding them at all for the past 2 hours...
Can you please post photos of the chicks, the brooder setup and their poop?
You have 16, 8-Day old chicks in a 3x3 brooder.
It's 90F in the garage and you are providing a heat lamp which you turn off at 80F-80F. You mention in 1 place the lamp is pointed at 1 corner, in another you mention 2...
The thermometer should stay in the brooder at all times for accurate monitoring. I use a reptile thermometer for all the birds I hatch or care for—it provides more consistent and reliable readings, and even humidity levels.
From the picture, those chicks look younger than 2-3 weeks old—maybe...
You need an emergency coop light on all night. Think night light level. You don't want it so bright that the chickens have trouble sleeping, but they need to be able to see where the predators are coming from so they can move away / peck back.
I once lost a 3 month old pullet to rat(s). The...
After getting an initial batch of six, I seem to be brooding 3 to 4 chicks every other year to keep my numbers up. I brood in the mudroom, in a dog crate with cardboard twisty-tied to the sides to keep bedding and heat in and cat paws out.
So like you I only need to raise the temperature over...
Unfortunately it wouldn’t do to have them imprint on her. She wants to have them bond with Tassles, the less she interacts with them the better. I’m fact I wouldn’t spend too much time with them if I were bonding them with a mama.
Plenty of time to have them hopping up on you once they get out...
All birds are different and a small group of bantam chicks will probably need heat for longer, but you also have warmer indoor temperatures. Getting them off heat and outdoors full-time is a priority for me, so you might not want to bother if it isn't so important for you but here's how I do it...
I've been thinking about the bed sheet thing. We have so many old sheets, I might be able to find something that I can use. Thank you for the tip!
As long as the current coop stays sturdy enough, that's exactly my plan for it. If we don't just end up burning it or something LOL. It'll still...
Thanks, I will definitely keep a light on all night. Today we are cleaning all the bedding out of the coop (in the frozen rain) to get a good look for any places where they might be getting in. It truly is amazing how they can fit through the smallest hole. After that, we're doing smoke bombs...
A 4x8 is the largest I'd build that was not a walk-in. You need to be able to reach everywhere inside so build access doors, probably from inside that shed.
I would forlighting. You should get quite a bit of light from that venting but I'd probably put one on the back wall. It won't hurt...
Hi all.
I've kept chickens for years - not well when I was a kid, but with great care and success over the last decade. Our hens are supervised free range girls. We don't have roosters at present as we've not had good experiences, but we want to try them again.
We were going to buy more chicks...
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow
Congratulations on your hatch! Here is a good article on raising the chicks the first 6 weeks of life ... https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/brooding-chicks-the-first-6-weeks.74640/
You might brood them outside in a draftless, steady temp building so...
Okay, so i have 13 hens. 21 weeks old! they have been some laying eggs for about 4 weeks now. i am now getting on average 7 eggs a day. but the last 3 days i get my usual 7 but on the floor of the coop under the roosting bar is a busted shell-less egg (or Jelly Egg as i used to call it growing...
Dust. Your space looks fine to me! 😂 The only clean places in my house are the kitchen and the bathrooms. I think there's still dust from the chicks being in the brooder inside on every light fixture in the house.