Chicks for the first Time

[ShawnaScott]

Have you tried a horse trough? Its about a couple feet in length, but the walls are pretty high. I just started with my chicks too, and they seem to like it!

 

[Jeanna Marie]

I feel so bad for  your husband - but I am literally rolling tears laughing right now!  HAHA!
Mine raised roller pigeons with his stepdad, so he's used to birds thankfully.  He actually suggested the other day that we didn't have enough chickens - I looked at him like he was crazy!  30 birds is no joke and no easy task!

You should see him jump when the babies try to fly! He won't even put his hand in the brooder.

 

[dennymeyrand]

Thanks for starting this thread!  I am new to chicks also....I have 15 scheduled to arrive on Thursday.   I am very excited!  I've done a TON of research, but now that Chick Day is approaching I find that I am getting nervous.  We built a 3 x 6.5 brooder using a couple interior doors leftover from our remodel and some other odds and ends from the barn.  We have the brooder in a storage room next to the laundry room.  There is a furnace vent in the ceiling above the brooder, and while I plan to use two  250-watt heat lamps, now I'm worrying that the furnace kicking off and on will make the temperature in the brooder fluctuate too much.  We keep the furnace at 71 during the day, but drop it to 64 at night to sleep more comfortably.  What do BYCers think...will the heat lamps make up for changes in the room temp?

I was nervous too. We just got ours last night. I built a 4x8x 16" tall box with a separator in the middle. I'm hoping i can keep them in for 4-6 weeks while i finish up the coop.

 

[Jeanna Marie]

We've been working hard on our cabin coop but hubby rolled a four wheeler yesterday and broke his hand! So work has kinda stopped. But we have a few weeks until they will need to go out. Hopefully he will heal quickly or I'm gonna learn carpentry!

 

[kynewbchickie]

We've been working hard on our cabin coop but hubby rolled a four wheeler yesterday and broke his hand! So work has kinda stopped. But we have a few weeks until they will need to go out. Hopefully he will heal quickly or I'm gonna learn carpentry!

Ow!!! Hope he heals up soon as well! Broken hands are awful!

I love your coop - it's so rustic-looking!

 

[Jeanna Marie]

Ow!!!  Hope he heals up soon as well!  Broken hands are awful!  

I love your coop - it's so rustic-looking!

Hubby says its camouflaged!

 

[BlueMoonFarm]

I was nervous too. We just got ours last night. I built a 4x8x 16" tall box with a separator in the middle. I'm hoping i can keep them in for 4-6 weeks while i finish up the coop.

Denny, our brooders are about the same size, though mine's taller. I decided to put a separator in the middle for the first couple weeks while they are little. The chicks arrived this morning (YEAH!!!), and I'm glad I set it up that way. Only using one heat lamp now and everyone seems very comfortable. I figure that later on when they are bigger I can pop the divider back in when I'm cleaning the brooder...move the birds to one side, clean, then repeat. Our coop isn't finished yet either...now that the girls are here, it's time to kick it into high gear!

JeannaMarie, your coop is really cool! Sorry to hear about your hubby's accident....hope he heals quickly. Sounds awful!

I am SOOOOOO psyched that my little fluffballs are here!! All 15 arrived this morning happy and healthy (knock on wood). I was really worried because the weather took a turn for the worse, and it got pretty cold last night. I was so concerned yesterday, thinking about them in a box in a postal vehicle somewhere between Ohio and Iowa! What a relief when the PO called this morning to say they were here. They are just adorable...I am in love already!

 

[Jeanna Marie]

Denny, our brooders are about the same size, though mine's taller.  I decided to put a separator in the middle for the first couple weeks while they are little.  The chicks arrived this morning (YEAH!!!), and I'm glad I set it up that way.  Only using one heat lamp now and everyone seems very comfortable.  I figure that later on when they are bigger I can pop the divider back in when I'm cleaning the brooder...move the birds to one side, clean, then repeat.  Our coop isn't finished yet either...now that the girls are here, it's time to kick it into high gear!

JeannaMarie, your coop is really cool!  Sorry to hear about your hubby's accident....hope he heals quickly.  Sounds awful!

I am SOOOOOO psyched that my little fluffballs are here!!   All 15 arrived this morning happy and healthy (knock on wood).  I was really worried because the weather took a turn for the worse, and it got pretty cold last night.  I was so concerned yesterday, thinking about them in a box in a postal vehicle somewhere between Ohio and Iowa!  What a relief when the PO called this morning to say they were here.  They are just adorable...I am in love already!

Congratulations on your babies! We want pics...

 

[nab58]

My six chicks are about three weeks old and just got moved out of their Rubbermaid brooder in the kitchen to a large cardboard box in the basement. They're red sex links and I can see their brown feathers starting to come in. I can't believe how big their legs are getting too!

Here are some pics I took yesterday.

 

[heby]

Have you tried a horse trough? Its about a couple feet in length, but the walls are pretty high. I just started with my chicks too, and they seem to like it!

Is that difficult to clean out? I'm using plastic bins and I take them out every couple of days to pour out sand and put fresh in. I wouldn't be able to turn a horse trough over but it sounds like it would be a great idea.