brooding chicks - daily routine

[Judy]

Quote:
After 2 or 3 weeks they need about a sq ft of space each. The smell isn't bad to me if you keep it cleaned up and can prevent any water from spilling, but the "dust" is awful. It's not really dust, it is chicken dander from their shedding the fuzz as they grow feathers. I will never brood in the house again. Depending where you live, you may be able to move them to the coop by 3 weeks. Actually you can brood them in the coop if you have a way to keep them warm.

Go to the index page then the learning center above. Or just browse the thread names in this section baqck a few pages as this comes up usually several times a day.

 

[suzeqf]

i have 12 little peepers in a huge carboard box with a regular 100w buld at one end it's been in the 60's at night and 70's during the day and they are 2 and 3 weeks old and in my hubby's shop so the warm end stays between 80-85 and they have a cool side if it gets colder than 60 i put the heat lamp bulb in and i have their food and waterers at the other end of their brooder and i have them up on boxes that are about 2 inches tall to keep the shavings out because they love to kick up the shavings and i have a small limb for a roost and a scrap piece of metal closest shelving and a small stepping stone and i check on them before and after work and i feed them out of my hand twice a day to get them used to being touched and handled

 

[Judy]

I shouldn't have implied that it's ALL from the dander as I did above. Lots is, but certainly the pine shavings and poop cause dust, too. At any rate they are DUSTY.

 

[ralleia]

Yes, the ARE dusty, and the bigger they get the more they poop. AND they're not likely to be cooperative as you try to clean out their quarters.

When I was human-brooding chicks (before I figured out how to cooperate with my hens to let them do the job) the chicks would only spend the first couple weeks in the house. After that it was on to larger improvised quarters in the garage, and then out to the coop.