Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[adirondak5]

Coop and babies all look great . How was their first night in the coop ? You were probably a few degrees cooler up your way than by me , we were mid 40's last night . Glad to see you put the Wyze Cam in your coop , they are great . I do my head count and make sure door is closed every night by checking my Wyze Cam , also check the nesting boxes for eggs .
Are you gonna keep em locked inside the coop for a few days ?

 

[aart]

I bought a second heating pad and made a second brooder plate, because their butts are getting big and somebody was always hanging out the sides before. It snowed yesterday so it's still getting pretty cold at night, and I wanted them to be comfy. I'm going to keep the brooder (with the door removed) in the coop for a few days until they get used to their new home. Less stress if they have a familiar safe space to go back to after exploring. So that's their sleeping quarters now:

Excellent!!

I really think having spent 3 weeks in the house with the kids has hardened these chicks a LOT, to where they're unfazed by any kind or level of sound now, and are quite okay being touched, picked up and moved.

Definitely!

I'm very happy with how everything went - the 3 weeks in the house were great (no problems at all, and I'd heard so many "never again" stories about brooding indoors),

Have you dusted yet?
Brooding inside only started to bug me after the 2nd or maybe 3rd time,
when the delight of having chicks 'at the ready' was trumped by the mess and stink.

 

[K0k0shka]

It's still very early but I'm definitely spotting some combs reddening up. Have you taken any guesses on roos yet? I always like to guess even if I'm growing them all out. I've learned a lot by doing this.

New digs are gorgeous! They'll be so happy and safe in there. I think you'll be surprised how quickly they abandon the brooder plate and start roosting.

Thanks!

Yeah, I have some guesses. My “firstborn” I think is definitely a rooster. It’s one of the Lemons (I’ll need to take better head shots to show combs/wattles). He’s the biggest of all the chicks and has the biggest comb, and his are the only wattles to start showing color already. Poor thing, will be soup. He’s the only one out of all the chicks who yells at me for picking him up and tries to get away, though he actually loves being ON me, climbing me and exploring, just not the picking up part. He’s the one in the photo where he’s on my head.

Do you have any guesses to share? I’ll take better portrait pictures next week and we can have a guessing game

 

[K0k0shka]

Coop and babies all look great . How was their first night in the coop ? You were probably a few degrees cooler up your way than by me , we were mid 40's last night . Glad to see you put the Wyze Cam in your coop , they are great . I do my head count and make sure door is closed every night by checking my Wyze Cam , also check the nesting boxes for eggs .
Are you gonna keep em locked inside the coop for a few days ?

Thanks!
First night in the coop was fine. I checked on them a few times before I went to bed, and everybody was under the heaters and quiet. I could see the occasional butt sticking out from under the new plate, so they’re using it, which is great. Checked the cam this morning - they’re happily walking around exploring, and, for the first time, RUNNING, now that they have the room to do it We’ll go pay them a visit after breakfast.

I’ll keep them in the coop for a week so they get used to it and learn to go back there to sleep. This will also give me time to finish the run. There’s only one piece I’ll need help with - lifting one of the horizontal beams, which is a 12-foot 4x4, but everything else I’ve done myself so far, like the coop

 

[K0k0shka]

Have you dusted yet?
Brooding inside only started to bug me after the 2nd or maybe 3rd time,
when the delight of having chicks 'at the ready' was trumped by the mess and stink.

I cleaned everything out yesterday. There were some piled up fluffs from their down in the corners on the floor, and kicked-out sand from their vigorous dust-bathing, but no dust build-up above floor level. We have air filters in every room of the house and one was next to the brooder, so that helps a lot. In general I don’t dust in the house - I don’t have to, the filters do an amazing job. So, cleanup wasn’t bad at all. And no bad smell either. Even my husband, who at first didn’t like the idea of barn animals in the house, had to admit that it was actually fine. Filters! Get some

 

[aart]

We have air filters in every room of the house and one was next to the brooder, so that helps a lot.

No doubt!!
What brand/model do you use.
Curious if you had to change filter media, and what you found there, or otherwise cleaned it during their stay?

 

[K0k0shka]

No doubt!!
What brand/model do you use.
Curious if you had to change filter media, and what you found there, or otherwise cleaned it during their stay?

We have two different models - a smaller one for the smaller rooms, and a bigger one for the bigger rooms. This is the smaller one, and also the kind we had next to the brooder:

https://smile.amazon.com/Hamilton-B...beach+true+air+purifier&qid=1589247269&sr=8-3

And this is the larger one, for the larger rooms:

https://smile.amazon.com/Winix-5500...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Both have permanent filters that you clean and put back inside (the first one you vacuum-clean, the second one you wash), so there's no added expense for replacement filter cartridges. Great investment! We live on a busy boulevard in the city and even though we don't open any windows, the inevitable black grimy dust from car exhaust and oil and crap ends up everywhere anyway. Having these filters throughout the house has made a real difference in our lives (and our lung health I'm sure). The big one is so sensitive that you can't even fart in its vicinity without it giving you away with a red light and a ramped up whir!

 

[K0k0shka]

The chicks' first full day in the coop went great. It was a true testament to their tolerance for noise - the neighbor on the other side of the coop had his house power-washed just a few feet away from the coop, and it took most of the morning. In addition to that, I had my power tools out there cutting wood and hammering things working on the chicken run a couple feet from the coop as well. The noise was at the "cannot hear conversation" level. But the chicks were totally fine! Kicking around the shavings, chasing each other and going about their business. At one point they piled up by the door (closest to where I was working just outside) and groomed themselves, then took a nap in a fluffy pile of shavings, as the noise was still going on full blast outside. Those chicks are VERY noise hardy!

In the afternoon, the kids and I talked to them through the camera's speaker. Didn't freak them out at all. They perked up, then ran over to the camera and stood under it, looking up, looking for us

We went out to pay them a few visits throughout the day. They were happy to see us. Both kids love the chicks and are excited, but my 4-year-old son is a lot more interested in them than my 6-year-old daughter. He's more of an animal person, and very patient and careful for his age. He and I sat there for quite a while just watching the chicks, and he carefully picked them up one by one and held them in his lap, petting and hugging and kissing them At some point I should probably put a ban on the kissing part... But he was so sweet with them. Most of them let him pick them up and hold them just fine, and didn't run away when he let go, but stayed in his lap for a while. We are really enjoying these chicks SO much!!!

 

[em_dawson]

I'm glad your little ones are liking the new little ones! When my brother was three, he insisted on holding a chick. It decided to poop on him, so he promptly dropped it... on its head. Six year old me was so terrified for the poor baby that I cried for hours. (The chick was fine, but I was traumatized.)

 

[aart]

At some point I should probably put a ban on the kissing part

Indeed, faces near beaks can be catastrophic..... and thorough hand washing after any handling, this is how kids and other people get salmonella...which then gets blown out of proportion as an agenda for banning backyard flocks. <oopssorryrantover>

In the afternoon, the kids and I talked to them through the camera's speaker. Didn't freak them out at all. They perked up, then ran over to the camera and stood under it, looking up, looking for us

This is great, so much fun!! Am CamJeally!