4 week old chicks without a heat lamp?

[heybarb]

I've got a broody hen that I tried to trick into taking some day old chicks. It didn't work. So, I've been raising them in a box with a heat lamp. They are close to 4 weeks old. Well, on Sunday morning we noticed that one chick was just gone. They had been in a rabbit cage that they couldn't get out of, inside an old building that has power. It seemed pretty safe. We questioned whether we had put all 4 chicks away after letting them play outside the day before, but assumed we did. The only predator we suspected was a snake. Any way, this morning, one chick is dead and it clearly looks like a snake tried to eat it, but couldn't get the whole thing down so it left it. The other 2 chicks appear to be perfectly fine (although perhaps a little traumatized!) The wire mesh (chicken wire) over the top of the box was undisturbed, so I am 100% sure it was a medium size black snake, which means it will come back again...I think.

Our chicks are not quite fully feathered. The temps are in the mid 60's at night and in the mid 80's during the day. Could I put the chicks back in the rabbit cage and put them in the chicken coop at night? We don't have power out there, so it would have to be without the heat lamp. I am truly at a loss as to where to put our 2 remaining chicks...The coop is pretty tight, so I think they would be safest out there, but I worry about the lack of heat lamp.

Any suggestions?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Technically they still need a heat lamp for 2 weeks for 60 degree temps, especially for only two of them. However, it sounds like certain death to stay where they are!

If it were me I'd just move them. What you can do to help is to cover your little cage with a blanket or tarp, leaving one side open (like a three-sided shelter) so that it creates a huddle box for them. This will still the airflow inside the cage and allow them to stay warmer. Additionally, you can put a nice hot milk jug- water bottle in there with them. This will cool down in the middle of the night but will comfort them, assuming the cage is big enough. I have done this with a silkie in a tote and she loved it.
It certainly is possible that this will make your chickens ill or worse, because they do need more heat than 60 degrees. The optimal thing would be to *definitely* give them a hot water bottle every night to huddle with if they cannot have a heat lamp.

 

[heybarb]

The hot water bottle idea is brilliant, which reminds me that I have a "heat disk" we bought to put in our outside cat's bed on cold nights. You pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and It will hold heat for 8-10 hours. It's flat so they could sit on it, or next to it!

In the past, I've let mama and her chicks sleep in the rabbit cage inside the coop and it works well. I cover the top and 3 sides with cardboard so the big chickens can't peck at them, but one side is open for air flow.

I am open to other suggestions, if anyone else wants to share...

 

[heybarb]

I'll give a little update. As my day progressed, I was trying to think of other options, since I couldn't find the heat disk. My broody that rejected these chicks has been letting one of my 8 week old chicks sleep in the nest box with her, so I tried to put these two chicks in with them last night a little after dark. Bad idea. Both of them pecked at these two - not mean, trying to kill the chick pecks, but definitely get away from us pecks, so I took them out. My daughter suggested that we leave them on our enclosed back porch with the heat lamp plugged in, but we also have an outdoor cat that sleeps and eats on the porch - coming and going through a cat door at night. So, we took food and water to the barn (where the cat spends spends the day) and locked her out of the porch. I felt bad for the cat, but as it got darker and darker, I was worried that a hot water bottle wouldn't hold heat long enough through the night, and this was the best solution we could think of.

The chicks survived the night without any trouble, and then this morning, at the edge of our driveway, I found a dead 3 foot long black rat snake that had been run over in the road last night or this morning. I am guessing it's the chick eater, but am scared to put them back in the outbuilding for fear that it might not have been the same snake!

 

[ten chicks]

I'll give a little update. As my day progressed, I was trying to think of other options, since I couldn't find the heat disk. My broody that rejected these chicks has been letting one of my 8 week old chicks sleep in the nest box with her, so I tried to put these two chicks in with them last night a little after dark. Bad idea. Both of them pecked at these two - not mean, trying to kill the chick pecks, but definitely get away from us pecks, so I took them out. My daughter suggested that we leave them on our enclosed back porch with the heat lamp plugged in, but we also have an outdoor cat that sleeps and eats on the porch - coming and going through a cat door at night. So, we took food and water to the barn (where the cat spends spends the day) and locked her out of the porch. I felt bad for the cat, but as it got darker and darker, I was worried that a hot water bottle wouldn't hold heat long enough through the night, and this was the best solution we could think of.

The chicks survived the night without any trouble, and then this morning, at the edge of our driveway, I found a dead 3 foot long black rat snake that had been run over in the road last night or this morning. I am guessing it's the chick eater, but am scared to put them back in the outbuilding for fear that it might not have been the same snake!

I keep my 5 week old chicks in the house.

 

[heybarb]

My husband is 100% against having the chicks in the house! He was actually opposed to having them on the porch too, but I gently persuaded him!

 

[debid]

Hang the cage! Three feet off the floor. Snakes can climb but they don't jump so well. Or, get a piece of 1/2" hardware cloth and improve security on the cage.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Yes on the porch with the heat lamp is better than water bottles. Good plan!

 

[ten chicks]

My husband is 100% against having the chicks in the house! He was actually opposed to having them on the porch too, but I gently persuaded him!

Really,we have dogs,cats,guinea pigs so having chicks in the house until they are older,is not an issue. I actually have two brooders in house,one for orpingtons and one for my silkies. Then the porch is the best idea,just make sure it is absolutely predator proof.