ck_in_mn
Chirping
The chicks are almost 7 weeks old now (shipped from hatchery on 4/20) and we out got them out of the basement brooder and into the coop last week. Minnesota had a late spring, and it was getting down into the 40s overnight even at the end of May. We're now in the 70s during the day and 50s at night, so it seemed like a good time.
Anyway, I had read about brooder heat lamps causing problems due to interference with a natural day/night cycle, which is unsurprising. But now I'm trying to figure out what to do next. (Other than getting a radiant chick heater, which I'm definitely doing if we get more chicks next spring.)
It didn't take long for the ladies to figure out that the coop was their safe place. The first night we had to move them from the pen to the coop by hand, but by the second night they were going in on their own. Unfortunately I discovered they were freaking out when it got dark. I walked out to the coop once and heard them screaming and squawking and fighting each other to get into the furthest corner of the coop. I was worried they were hurting each other so I put a battery powered night light in the coop and that seemed to calm them.
That's obviously not a long term solution, so I looked around and found these cheap rechargeable night lights. I bought one with a remote that lets me choose the color, multiple levels of brightness, and even has an off timer. My hope is that I can start lowering the brightness and using the timer to wean them off the light over a week or two.
I have been setting them up on the perches at bed time each night. It's taking some time, but slowly some of them have been getting it. Tonight when I checked on them before closing up for the night, four of the eight were even perched all on their own. Still, four were huddled down on that furthest corner. At least they weren't screaming.
We've also noticed that some of the Brahmas have bald spots on their back just above the tail. We aren't sure what's causing that, because the Orps don't seem to have that problem. Not sure if it's stress, or what, but were keeping an eye on it. They don't appear to be picking each other from what we've seen, hopefully just picking themselves. I'm also getting the supplies we need for a dust bath to be sure it's not a mite problem.
That's a long winded back story which brings me to my question: Has anyone experienced similar behavior? Any suggestions beyond what I'm doing?
Anyway, I had read about brooder heat lamps causing problems due to interference with a natural day/night cycle, which is unsurprising. But now I'm trying to figure out what to do next. (Other than getting a radiant chick heater, which I'm definitely doing if we get more chicks next spring.)
It didn't take long for the ladies to figure out that the coop was their safe place. The first night we had to move them from the pen to the coop by hand, but by the second night they were going in on their own. Unfortunately I discovered they were freaking out when it got dark. I walked out to the coop once and heard them screaming and squawking and fighting each other to get into the furthest corner of the coop. I was worried they were hurting each other so I put a battery powered night light in the coop and that seemed to calm them.
That's obviously not a long term solution, so I looked around and found these cheap rechargeable night lights. I bought one with a remote that lets me choose the color, multiple levels of brightness, and even has an off timer. My hope is that I can start lowering the brightness and using the timer to wean them off the light over a week or two.
I have been setting them up on the perches at bed time each night. It's taking some time, but slowly some of them have been getting it. Tonight when I checked on them before closing up for the night, four of the eight were even perched all on their own. Still, four were huddled down on that furthest corner. At least they weren't screaming.
We've also noticed that some of the Brahmas have bald spots on their back just above the tail. We aren't sure what's causing that, because the Orps don't seem to have that problem. Not sure if it's stress, or what, but were keeping an eye on it. They don't appear to be picking each other from what we've seen, hopefully just picking themselves. I'm also getting the supplies we need for a dust bath to be sure it's not a mite problem.
That's a long winded back story which brings me to my question: Has anyone experienced similar behavior? Any suggestions beyond what I'm doing?
