Asking another strange question...

[WhitneyMarie13]

I feel like most of the questions I've posted have been kind of silly, but us newbies have to learn somehow right?

Anyways...I want to let my older girls free range in my yard in areas that have weeds. They have had the chance to do so in the past and they really enjoyed it. The only thing stopping me right now is the fact that my dog loves to poo in the areas with weeds (which he is of course, highly allergic too, go figure). I clean up poo every other day so it never gets bad, but he likes to poo in the weeds, around the weeds, next to the weeds...

Is it okay to let my chicks eat those weeds? Like I said, I would never let them out with dog poo all over but I don't want to take the chance of them trying to eat weeds that are contaminated, or poo that gets left behind

Let's face it, chickens can eat some pretty disgusting stuff and I caught one of them running towards a pile of cat poo one day...luckily I caught her before she had the chance to partake in the lovely present left behind.

I'm thinking about enclosing a large area just for them and leaving my dogs other favorite spots to go open for him.

Thoughts, ideas? Am I being overly paranoid?

(Nooo, not me!)

On a side note, do my new almost week old chicks need a heating lamp on them if the room they are in is at about 90 during the day? The room is our laundry room where it is safe enough for them to be out of harms way from predators and to keep them warm, but I've been leaving the light off during the day because it can reach nearly 100 in there with it on. I do turn it on at night and it stays 85-95 degrees (95 under the lamp and 85 away from the lamp)

2 questions in one!

 

[goldiethehen]

I think the dog poo would be fine. Our chickens free-range and we have a dog who poops as she pleases. i must admit we do a terrible job at picking up the poop, and the chickens have never gotten sick from it. The only reason that i would have just slight concern would be the size of the plot you are allowing them to roam on (I have no idea how big it is

). The smaller it is, the more concentrated their curiosity becomes, possibly causing them to eat the poop, or at least try some. if you have a large space, they would probably be less likely to try some, and even if they do, i really don't think unless your dog has a bad illness, it would harm them. Hope this helped. I don't know on your heat lamp issue.

 

[WhitneyMarie13]

That makes me feel better...and if that's the case I feel like I can just let them free range our entire yard, which is a pretty good size and has plenty of weeds, bugs and good stuff for them to scratch for.

I'm there with you on the poo picking up. Usually, when it's nice and cool I'm on it just about every day, but here in Arizona during the summer, the LAST thing I want to do is pick up poo, but I force myself to do it at least every couple of days.

I just thought it was hilarious will all the yard they had open to them, one of my girls became very interested in cat poo...she's lucky my dog didn't see...cat poo is a delicacy to him!

LOL!

Thanks for the feedback...hopefully someone can answer my light question! If not, I'm sure my chicks will be just fine...especially considering the very nice, consistent warm weather we've had. That and they're almost a week, so hopefully they're toughening up!

 

[ChikkiNikki]

Do you have a thermometer in the box in the laundry room? I am by NO MEANS an expert (I've had my chicks for two weeks!) but I would figure as long as that thermometer is reading 90 or 95 degrees (or whatever temp it should be at that age and what is comfortable for the chick) it would be okay to leave the lamp off. The point is to make sure the chick is warm enough, whether that be from a heat lamp or another source (such as a warm laundry room!). You may want to turn it on at night, but I personally would just check the thermometer in the brooder for the daytime if it is that warm in there already. If I am wrong, I hope someone corrects me, but I'm pretty sure the source of the heat is not the important factor, the important part is just making sure they are warm enough.

 

[donrae]

My birds used to range with access to where the dogs and cats pooped and never seemed interested in it. Horse poop, on the other hand, is quite a treat!

And your dog will think the chicken poop is a treat, also.

 

[WhitneyMarie13]

Thanks! I have a temperature gun that I use to check the temperature in various spots in the brooder. I had a temp gauge for my tortoise, but have no clue where that went. I had the light on yesterday and it was making the entire laundry room about 98 degrees...at one point it was about 101 in part of the brooder. I know it says in the first week that 90-100 is okay, but the chicks seemed a bit too warm so I turned the light off for a bit and the room dropped to about 85-90. It's very warm here in AZ (Tucson specifically), so I had a feeling that if the room was warm enough a light was not needed. It's good to hear that I'm probably fine without the light for daytime warmth.

We're closing in on one week for my lil ones so hopefully I can start leaving the light off at night too, especially if the weather continues to be so warm at night.

They seem happy, energetic, are eating and drinking, poo isn't pasting up on their lil bottoms, and they both seem to sleep under the light as well as slightly away from it. When they do sleep they aren't huddled together nor are they sprawled out. They find a spot they like, lay next to each other and doze off comfortably.

I haven't noticed any erratic behavior that would indicate too much heat (or avoiding the light) and I haven't seen any decreased activity due to being too cold.

Donrae- thanks for the feedback! It's just baffling that my dog loves such icky things! He's fed very well...treats, good food, occasional pieces of turkey and yet...he can't help himself when it comes to cat poo! He was sniffing a little pile of the chickens poo the other day...so I'm sure in time he'll say, "what the heck, I'll try it!" LOL

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Thanks! I have a temperature gun that I use to check the temperature in various spots in the brooder. I had a temp gauge for my tortoise, but have no clue where that went. I had the light on yesterday and it was making the entire laundry room about 98 degrees...at one point it was about 101 in part of the brooder. I know it says in the first week that 90-100 is okay, but the chicks seemed a bit too warm so I turned the light off for a bit and the room dropped to about 85-90. It's very warm here in AZ (Tucson specifically), so I had a feeling that if the room was warm enough a light was not needed. It's good to hear that I'm probably fine without the light for daytime warmth.

We're closing in on one week for my lil ones so hopefully I can start leaving the light off at night too, especially if the weather continues to be so warm at night.

They seem happy, energetic, are eating and drinking, poo isn't pasting up on their lil bottoms, and they both seem to sleep under the light as well as slightly away from it. When they do sleep they aren't huddled together nor are they sprawled out. They find a spot they like, lay next to each other and doze off comfortably.

I haven't noticed any erratic behavior that would indicate too much heat (or avoiding the light) and I haven't seen any decreased activity due to being too cold.

Donrae- thanks for the feedback! It's just baffling that my dog loves such icky things! He's fed very well...treats, good food, occasional pieces of turkey and yet...he can't help himself when it comes to cat poo! He was sniffing a little pile of the chickens poo the other day...so I'm sure in time he'll say, "what the heck, I'll try it!" LOL

sounds like they're fine. Really, observing them is the best method of gauging whether the temps are ok. You may need to move them to a cooler place as they get older though, because 90 degrees is a little warm once they are 2 or 3 weeks old.

 

[ButchGood]

Quote: I think you may need to get them out of there if it gets too hot. The brooder temps you here about. Throw that stuff out. 100 degrees to start and 5 degrees cooler every week is IMHO pure poppycock. That's to hot. Watch them. if they are piling on top of each other under the light they are to cold. If they are staying away from the light and spread out they are to hot. If they are milling around scratching and acting like chickens, everything is just right. But your fine without a light. as long as they are warm....But not too hot.

 

[WhitneyMarie13]

Thanks ButchGood. They were kind of overly warm at that point but I opened up the laundry room door, got a small fan going and the temp dropped and they seemed much happier. I had a feeling that 100 degrees and dropping by 5 was probably not entirely correct! When they first came home they were 1 maybe 2 days old and their brooder was between 85 and 90 and they seemed happy and normal as can be.

Without the light, the room gets between 80-90 degrees with the door closed. With the door open it can range from 75-85, depending on how hot it is outside. I check their temp every 1-2 hours to make sure it isn't too hot and if I notice it's starting to creep up I turn of the light and let it cool back down.

So far they haven't shown any behavior that would indicate stress or problems with temp. I also noticed today that their little tail feathers are starting to sprout up and each of them has a few feather buds (not sure if that's what they are really called) along their back!

With my first two chicks (got them at about 3 weeks) I barely had to use the light at all. The first week or so I had it on when it started to get dark and I'd turn it off after the sun had been out for a couple of hours and after that I only used the light a couple times when the temp dropped significantly at night. I only had them inside for about 3 weeks while the coop was being finished and while they lost the baby fuzz on their necks/heads and backs. After that I booted their messy butts outside! They were definitely outgrowing the brooder and they loved to be outside, so it was definitely time.

Starting with babies has been an entirely new experience! Love it though!

 

[ButchGood]

I've found that if you raise them at cooler temps they feather out a lot faster.