Arizona Chickens

[Tracydr]

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If you still have that, I need to buy a crate.
Nurse shelly, I'm considering those chicks for my granddaughter. Actually, the blue chick, if it's still available. Ordered her a blue silky from Ideal but I figure if we have two we have a better chance at one being a hen. That blue chick is just too cute. I'd take both though, if you dont find a home for the other one.

 

[nurseshelly]

Quote:
If you still have that, I need to buy a crate.
Nurse shelly, I'm considering those chicks for my granddaughter. Actually, the blue chick, if it's still available. Ordered her a blue silky from Ideal but I figure if we have two we have a better chance at one being a hen. That blue chick is just too cute. I'd take both though, if you dont find a home for the other one.

Someone on the list is going to take both of them, sorry! You know, sonoran silkies often has some available, and you get to see her awesome set up too

 

[Tracydr]

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That just makes me want to get

 

[Tracydr]

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I've always found the red heat lamps to be too hot. The ones I've seen can heat a stall in a cold barn. I just use a 60 watt bulb, check to see if they are spread out nicely in the box. Too huddled in one corner and I lift the light up or down.
If the house is really cold ( yeah, right!), you can go up to a 100 W bulb. I've used them in early winter in the utility room in OK.
I've never noticed any issues with they're rhythms. In fact, turning off the room lights seems to be enough to put them to bed, once they get the hang of it.

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
If you still have that, I need to buy a crate.
Nurse shelly, I'm considering those chicks for my granddaughter. Actually, the blue chick, if it's still available. Ordered her a blue silky from Ideal but I figure if we have two we have a better chance at one being a hen. That blue chick is just too cute. I'd take both though, if you dont find a home for the other one.

Someone on the list is going to take both of them, sorry! You know, sonoran silkies often has some available, and you get to see her awesome set up too

Thanks! If this one from Ideal is a rooster I'll check with her. I like the fact that yours was part Serama.
Oh, Tightwad- I saw that someone else got your coupon. Where do you get those? I'll have to watch for them.

 

[tightwad]

Quote:
If you still have that, I need to buy a crate.
Nurse shelly, I'm considering those chicks for my granddaughter. Actually, the blue chick, if it's still available. Ordered her a blue silky from Ideal but I figure if we have two we have a better chance at one being a hen. That blue chick is just too cute. I'd take both though, if you dont find a home for the other one.

It's already been spoken for, sorry. I got it in the Money Mailer coupons that come in the junk mail. Red, white, and blue envelope.

How about craigslist for a crate?

 

[nurseshelly]

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Someone on the list is going to take both of them, sorry! You know, sonoran silkies often has some available, and you get to see her awesome set up too

Thanks! If this one from Ideal is a rooster I'll check with her. I like the fact that yours was part Serama.
Oh, Tightwad- I saw that someone else got your coupon. Where do you get those? I'll have to watch for them.

If you want, I can incubate two more, just let me know!

 

[tightwad]

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Do you have any dog crates,, big boxes, big rubber made containers? My chicks are first put into either a large cardboard box or smallish ( 20 gallon?) rubber made container, size depending on how many I have. I attach a worklamp, usually with just a 60-100 W bulb, since they're in a warm house, not in the cold outdoors.
They are moved from there to a big dog crate, then to my dog ex-pen. I like to get them outside with the dog ex-pen at 2-4 weeks, depending on feathering and size. Cornish X are ASAP, bantams are close to 4 weeks, since I cants even put them in the ex-pen, they can get through the grate slats for so long, they are so tiny.
When outside, or even in the house in the ex-pen, I cover the top with a sheet or tarp. My yard is pretty predator proof but I did have a pit-bull bust in and kill some cornish chicks this spring, very scary, my Doberman and papillon got into the fight and I came close to losing a papillon. Still thanking my doberman everyday for that one! Stray cats are a problem but so far haven't figured out the pen/ sheet contraption.
I once lost a peachick to a hawk in OK. It was pulled through the slats of the ex-pen! I have it in a picture! The chick was almost as large as my full grown OEGBs!
Anyway, I wouldn't get real fancy with a brooder set-up. I've also made them out of the cheap, plastic fencing from HD, although I wasn't very happy with that.

They're in a large, plastic crate right now which works well inside. I just haven't ever had to move them outside without putting them right in the coop. I couldn't imagine how I was going to have a 16-20 sq ft space for them in my already filled yard before they move in with the big girls. It sounds like from everyone's comments that I won't need that much space.

I ended up getting an inexpensive crib, 55 x 34, off of craigslist for cheap. I'll just wrap it in chicken wire and fix up something for the bottom that will be easy to clean. The tarp for the top is a great idea in case we get any rain. I was originally going to cut off the legs and have it sit directly on the ground but we have abundant scorpions so I think they'll be a little safer off the ground until they're bigger. It comes apart pretty easily so if I wrap each side separately I can store it flat in the attic - you know, that chicken math thing. ;

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Read labels; not all brands are created equally. And with most poultry feeds, economy, not quality is the primary driver in manufacturer selection of ingredients; protein count also matters. Also, fresher is always better, even if the ingredient quality is not quite as good. Likewise a better brand that is buggy is not as good as a lesser quality feed that is not buggy.

Lots of folks report getting better rate of lay with Manna Pro than with other brands available locally. Kings Feed is supposed to be THE BEST, but the only place that carries it in the east valley is Higley, and when I purchased a bag I got home to find it extremely buggy. Stock Shop also carries it on the west side. I know that SHaron (owner of The Feed Barn) makes a big point of getting more shipments in the summer so that there is less on the shelf time for the bags. None of her feed has ever been buggy, at least none that I have purchased. Ray's Feed carries Kelley brand, which is a pretty good brand; I don't purchase from them often enough to have any feeling for how well they manage to keep their feed free of bugs or not.

Quite frankly, I'd go to the grocery store and purchase a box of oatmeal or shredded wheat for the birds before purchasing Arizona Feeds brand. Not too fond of Purina, either.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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I actually prefer the moon glo heat lamps that yhou find in the reptile section of pet stores. Heat, a tiny bit of light, truly looks like moonlight. Just make sure they also get daylight, or switch to a regular bulb during the daytime.