Thank you sooo much BigBlue Hen! I am incredibly grateful for the help & advise! I added a pic above. Do you think if i remove the heat light the brooder plate will be enough? it is 17C here today, supposed to get down to 10C tonight. The are living in my dining room at the moment, we have an...
Here are the various ways I've used the multiple lights I have installed around my coop and run:
Every night, I turn on the outdoor (dim) coach lights to provide enough illumination to do head count and collect eggs.
When I am doing a full flock, oral de-worming (including weighing) or any...
You know they have a drive to join their “mama”. Who is that? YOU!
Sit as close as you can in a washable outfit and let them jump up to your arm and lap!
What I found with the Buckeyes, more than the Orpingtons, but even with them, is that they want a perch there at the edge. You could make...
Just my opinion, but could they be cold? They need more heat than chicks & w them huddling together sounds like maybe not warm enough where food it? Mine are going on 3wks & are crazy in my brooder..which I keep brooder plates in there & a lil reg orange bulb for night-light
The 8 week pullets were sold out all in one day before we could get any, but we might get another chance on that in 2 and 4 weeks.
Meanwhile, we just placed four JGs under Goldie, they all got quiet under her, and she kept sitting there and covering them with her wing. We did this in the dark...
I had never heard of poop boards until I joined this forum last week and honestly I like that idea. I need to research better to figure out how I would do it though.
Ive decided to forego the quarantine/separation area and make a man door on the inside into the coop (more like a screen door)...
Thank you! I dont have chickens yet. I was planning on 6 or 7 chickens, but Im a bit too experienced in chicken math (started with 10 before and had 28 by the time I moved!) but I also had a lot more space for them back then.
I have a 200 ft run, but also plan to free range them as much as...
The advice sounds similar to what's often advised for commercial settings, but you can do things completely different and still raise healthy chicks.
I raise chicks outdoors but in small batches. So ambient brooder temperature varies from low 40s - high 60s F (5-20.5 C) with a heating pad that...
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...
Welcome To BYC
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...