Brooding chicks on sand... will they eat too much grit?

[Bellatrixed]

Okay, thank you Ridgerunner! I just wanted to make sure, since there have been so many chicken disease scares lately. I'm not worried about salmonella at all in normal conditions due to washing my hands religiously and simply being aware of cleanliness, but I started thinking about the dust and wondering if it was possible for me to ingest the particles from them being in the air... you're right though, you'd think these forums would be filled with warnings about that if it was a concern.

Hm... if the dust is really that horrible, maybe I'll have to shorten the amount of time they're in the house. I actually do have a secure brooder in a barn outside, but in the past I always used it for fully feathered but still young birds, because it's really quite huge. It's set up with a wire top so a heat lamp can rest over it, but I assumed it would be too drafty for tiny babies due to its size. It has solid wood walls and a wood floor, though. I guess I'll see how bad the dust is and play it by ear lol.

The barn is also far away and I wanted to be able to monitor the babies closely for at least the first week or so--does the dust get really bad after a certain point or will even week old chicks be awful?

 

[jak2002003]

It all depends of how many chicks you get. If you are getting less than 10 then the dust should not be a problem.

They only start making a lot of dust when they start to get covered in the feathers - which takes a few weeks.

I never noticed any dust when my chicks were in the house, but I move them outside as soon as they are getting body feathers. They tell me when its time to go outside when they reach the stage they can fly out of the brooder and onto the furniture lol.

As for diseases, there is nothing to worry about there. All animals, like dogs, and humans carry diseases, and as lot as you use common sense, like keeping you hands clean after cleaning the chicken out, the getting a illness is going to be very unlikely.

 

[sagicraw]

how do you assimilate the new young chicks into the bigger flock? How old are they when you mix them with the rest of the adult birds?

Thanks

 

[jak2002003]

I introduce then when I like. Any age is fine. Best over 1 month.

I have a 'safe house' for the chicks to get into. It's just a basket with holes big enough for the chicks to get into, but too small for the adult chicken to get through.

I put the chicks water and feed in there, with a roost. The chicks can use that to rest in and eat, and go out through the gaps into the main chicken run. If they get chased or picked on by an adult chicken they can just run back into the basket.

After a few days they learn to stay out of the way of the bigger birds, and give them some respect - like not pushing in front of them to get food.

 

[sagicraw]

great idea the safe house! thank you so much!

 

[Bellatrixed]

I agree, the idea of the chick safe house is awesome! I think I will definitely have to use that whenever I get more babies, because let's face it... if I am already so bad with chicken math that 6 turned into 27 in the span of a month, there will be more babies this year...

 

[kiwijean83]

Ridgerunner, thanks for your posts. I find them comforting since this is exactly how I am planning to brood my first chicks ever. Glad to know someone else has the same set up (my hubbby would also kill me if I tried to brood them in the house).

 

[kiwijean83]

Bellatrixed: I have also been taken hostage by chicken math. The initial 4-6 chicks that we planned on getting have ballooned to 15 chicks and 10 ducklings (only keeping 5 of the ducklings). Good luck with your new batch, when do you get them?

 

[Bellatrixed]

kiwijean83 - They ship on the 27th, so I'm supposed to get them on the 1st of March (though hopefully earlier). They're coming from Ideal Poultry in Texas and I'm in southwest Missouri. I really hope it doesn't take the full three days!