My new chicks are in a brooder box on our back patio. Not to worry, we latched the lid down and put a couple of big bricks on top JIC anything opened the latches. Oh, and it's not getting colder than 60 this week. Anyway, it has a lid that is mostly hardware cloth. I'm using a red heat lamp mounted outside the box. The chicks went to sleep around dusk since they have some concept of the sun setting but an hour later, the brooder was a flurry of activity. It didn't take long to figure out why -- crane flies! The light was being mobbed by crane flies and the chicks were eating any that dared to fly too low! Now, I should point out that I have a few 2-weekers in with chicks that are just a couple days old but the little ones were in on the action as well. Apparently "big sisters" are good for teaching new tricks. It's been a nonstop party in there ever since.
I just got these chicks TODAY so I hadn't even put in any grit yet. I realized, though, that if they were going to fill up on crane flies, mosquitoes, moths, beetles... whatever else happened by, they needed grit. So, I headed to the driveway with a colander and bowl to harvest some tiny granite pebbles. I put a little plastic lid in the brooder with the grit and they demolished it so I had to repeat the harvest procedure.
I'm starting to wonder if they're going to be somewhat nocturnal for a while since the night is so much more exciting for them than daytime
I just got these chicks TODAY so I hadn't even put in any grit yet. I realized, though, that if they were going to fill up on crane flies, mosquitoes, moths, beetles... whatever else happened by, they needed grit. So, I headed to the driveway with a colander and bowl to harvest some tiny granite pebbles. I put a little plastic lid in the brooder with the grit and they demolished it so I had to repeat the harvest procedure.
I'm starting to wonder if they're going to be somewhat nocturnal for a while since the night is so much more exciting for them than daytime
