I didn't see this before. No heat lamp! It's a seed grow mat -- like a low-grade heating pad. I put the contraption in the coop tonight, and the chicks seem to like it.
I've done it in past years -- I'll try to look up my stats. It's hard to keep track of perfectly because the meat birds and my laying flock get the same food. I know that in past years, when I did all the math -- feed, bedding, cost of chicks + shipping, it all worked about to be about $1.5/pound of meat in the end. Tomorrow, I'll try to find my notes.
. but I seriously doubt that rule applies to barred chicks that aren't from a barred mother and father (this would be my guess but again it's an assumption). That being said , like little prairie, I'm betting yours is sex linked and you can tell it's a boy simply from the fact that it exhibits barring head spot. (If this chicks dad roo is mixed with a barred bird in his ancestry though that wont necessarily be 100% accurate either. Could still be a guessing game)
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