5 Chicks and Counting - First ever flock family

[Grammy60]

Hello Terry and welcome to BYC So happy you have joined our flock.
Best of luck with your cute little flock.

 

[janiedoe]

It gets pretty chill in the basement at night. There entire lid is vented, maybe if I lift the lamp?

I'm sorry, I just realized that your chicks aren't feathered. They do need heat, but the tank you have them in, is not providing enough ventilation. So if you have a large Rubbermaid, I'd move them into that. if you have a heating pad, you can use it to make a cave. Google "mama heating pad cave" and you'll get plenty of ideas. Those lamps are scary. Too many fires caused by them. Good luck with your new flock.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi Terry and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[sourland]

Hello, Terry, and welcome to BYC. A plastic tote or cardboard box would give the chicks more room.

 

[Sylie]

A large plastic tote does work really well (if extra ventilation is needed you can drill/cut holes in the ends like I do with mine). One small suggestion, your heat lamp should be focused on one end so that if the chicks get too hot, they can move away from the heat. Watch for panting or faster breathing until you can get another brooder situation in place.
The general rule of thumb if you are looking for a more scientific way of determining how warm your brooder should be is: 95 degrees for the first week of life then decrease the temp by 5 degrees every week until you are at 70 AND they are fully feathered, then they don't need the heat anymore. The more non scientific approach and the one most people use is to watch your chick's behavior, if they are all clumped together peeping loudly, they are cold, if they are spread out from each other and sleepy, they are too hot. Find the happy medium and keep an eye on them as they grow, their "happy medium" will change as they start to get feathers.