Brooder Q's

[Peepthis541]

So, I am new at raising chicks. I have 6 in a tote, on shavings (they are not eating them), chick starter feeder, plenty of clean water. I have a thermometer in there to monitor the temp. I have a 100w lamp going now. I forgot to ask how old they were when I bought them, but I assume they were days old. I've had them for a few days.

I read to keep the temp at about 95 degrees in the warmest spot of the brooder. I have been maintaining this. Then, I saw that every week to drop the temp 5 degrees. Is this accurate? I notice there is a bit of fluctuation in temperature depending on the day, and the ambient temp of my livingroom. I installed a PC fan near the lamp in case I need to circulate the air because of too much heat, but so far, the lamp seems to be maintaining that temp well.

Mainly, I'd like to know about temperature consistency and bringing it down at what rate of time.

Also, should I give them any other food besides chick starter? Such as yogurt, fruit, or grit? They seem to like to peck at the bottom of the tote. The sound resembles raindrops on a roof when they are all going at it. I assume they are just getting into their scratch and peck instincts.

I hold them and examine them daily, checking their bums for pasty bum. So far so good!


Thanks for any tips.

Dave

 

[Paganbird]

Sounds like you're doing everything right. I don't give my days-old chicks treats - some people may - I don't.
They look very content...
Keep up the good work!

 

[ging3rhoffman]

You are doing everything right. You are suppose to back the away 5 degrees per week. If you want them to come to you and be like pets you can start giving them treats and saying "treat treat". I did that to mine and now they come running when they see me and when i sit in their run they come sit on my lap. Big sweet babies. They are adorable by the way.

 

[lunkerchicken]

5' a week is a general rule of thumb but the chicks will tell you. If they are all huddled below the heat lamp, it is too cool for them (brrr), lower the lamp. If they are all out on the edge trying to get as far away from the heat source as possible, too hot, raise the heat lamp. I focused my heat lamp towards one end of the brooder. This allowed them varying degrees of heat and they could decide for themselves.
I started giving my little girls treats at about 2 weeks but on a limited basis. I wanted to make sure they got the full nutritional value of the feed before I started throwing treats at them. Dinner before desert! I will say, they love them treats though!!

Good luck and welcome aboard!

 

[pkeeler]

Is the lamp red? It is hard to tell in photos. If it is not, and they start picking at one chick, then I would switch it for a red right away. I would switch to a red lamp anyway. You can get an 85w red lamp at HD or Lowes. Switch that at 1 week, leaving the fixture at the same height. This will also save on energy.

You should feed grit free choice from the start if you can. It will make your birds grow larger, healthier, gizzards.

You don't have to give treats, but I usually give some hard boiled egg yolk, crumbled, once or twice the first few days.

 

[Peepthis541]

Quote:
I actually just got a new "brooder bulb" at lowe's today. I was surprised when I got home and saw that my regular incandescent (that I was replacing) was 120 watt, and not 100 w like I thought. The brooder bulb looks like a flood light (conical), just like the red light I saw. But I opted out of the red light because it was more than twice the price. Why do you recommend red to deter pecking? Sounds interesting, I'd like to know the connection.

Thanks for the replies.

Dave

 

[m2wandc]

Quote:

 

[m2wandc]

Quote:
Red is more soothing to the chicks...allows them to rest, softer on them...

I find my chicks that were under white lights were more skittish and when under red they are calmer...

at night they are quieter under red...

and someone just posted somewhere else that they heard red lights don't damage their eye sight...I haven't heard "proof" that a white light will damage their eye sight, but for $6 more I'd rather have the calmer rested bird...so IMHO it's worth the extra money.

 

[California Ducken]

Hi all! Another thing about red lights, is that, if a bird ever gets an injury, they start pecking at it but when the light is red they dont see it.
When you have chicks that peck at toes and chicks in larger quantities a red light is good too!
Good Luck!

 

[melvin1208]

you got it right but you dont need to worry about the temperature if you have it near the set limit because the chicks themselves know if theyre to hot or cold and theyll move away from the light