Just got my 3 chickens last week and I think I might be addicted. They are such a cool pet and I would love to have more. I have two australorp and one buff-o. They are all hens. I know chick day at TSC is in feb and I wanted to take some chicks and just add them in. However I know how chickens can be and I don't want to get some and put them in danger so what should I do. Two problems are they can't come inside and I can't make a heat source outside. Any help would be also. Ps first post.
Depending on where you live, not having a heat lamp in February would be a bad thing for the chicks. They need that extra heat. Why can't they come inside? I had mine in my basement and as long as i kept the brooder clean it was ok. A little extra dust, but... I really wouldn't put them in with the bigger ones right away either. Even though they'll only be a few days old they should be quarantined for a period of time to make sure they are healthy. When mine were old enough I took them to the coop in another enclosed brooder box. They could see each other but the bigger ones couldn't hurt the little ones. After about a week I let the little ones loose because they were big enough at that point to intermingle. Some pecking order stuff happened but that is to be expected. They live together fine now. Congrats on your chicks and welcome!
Thanks folks and I do feel very welcomed. The reason I cant bring them inside is I have a little baby and both him and my lovely wife are most likely allergic to the dust. My basement isn't finished and drafty so I know they cant do that. I live in SE KY. The end of feb for us is brisk but that's about it. After what I've read I think I'm going to get my Buff-o to brood because she is sure trying too. Would you all think it would be too late in the year to set her with some hatching egg? PS if I should start a new thread or do anything else can someone PM me because I am new to this.
My Black Australorp hens always want to kill chicks, even their own, so I have to wait until my new chicks get to be about 5 or 6 weeks old to let them be together. Until then, I had the new ones in a gated chicken wire enclosure inside the chicken house so they can get used to seeing each other. Now that they are all out together they have had some minor disputes, but nothing serious.
Wow. Really they try to kill there own. I'm going to have to keep that in mind. Has anyone else had this problem?
Yes, I've read numerous posts over the years about hens that sometimes kill their own or hens that kill other chicks. I would never put chicks in with full grown hens. It takes about four weeks for the chicks immune system to fully develop so I would not expose them unneccessarly for that reason. Wait until they are at least six weeks old and able to "get away" from the older hens. That pecking order thing will be very stressful for such small chicks not to mention the hens will likely not let them eat from the feeders. I've seen some chickens are pretty possessive when it comes to their food. Extra feeders help with that. Do you have a garage to keep the chicks in? A large appliance box or even an extra large Walmart plastic tub will make a brooder. Put some pine shaving in the bottom of it and change it every week. If you have an outside outlet and your coop is not far, far away from the house, you can get power to it for a heat lamp. Just buy those outdoor electric cords and plug into your house outlet. I know they come in varying lengths. But I would still not put the chicks in with the hens, maybe build a little pen beside it for them until they are old enough. They will need a heat source until they are six to eight weeks old which is when most chickens have become fully feathered. Seventy degree nightime temps will be too cool for growing chicks. You can even put that heat lamp on a cheap mechanical timer if your daytime temps are warm enough for them. Also, don't always need those big 250watt bulbs. That could be overkill if the area you are heating is small or enclosed. Sometimes just a 75 watt bulb will put out enought heat in a small area to keep them warm if the area is free of drafts.