Chicks Kept Out Of Sight?

[Morgan7782]

I have four 8 week old chicks in my house at the moment (they are new and inside is best place to keep seperate from current flock) and they are kept in my bedroom. At this time, I have a very sick cat and will be spending the night with the cat tonight in my mom's room (she is in bay area right now) to keep an eye on him or an ear out. The chicks are in my bedroom with food, water and all that good stuff.

My question:

For those of you who brood your chicks out of plain view, how do you do it as safely as possible? I am worried about them tipping their water over, or kicking shavings into their water. The waterer is raised but these girls can KICK! And funnily enough they kick RIGHT where the waterer is, like they are trying to fill the water with shavings. How do you handle that sort of thing? Should I assume all will be fine and check on them as soon as I wake up? It's 10pm here now, and I wake up around 6-7am. IF they tip the waterer over while I am not in the room (therefore won't know) will they be ok if it drains out or something until morning? I am not able to hang the waterer, wish I could but don't think it's doable with the setup I have. Thanks for any tips!

 

[aubreynoramarie]

ugh, i have had the same problem from day one with my chicks! it may not help now, since youre already into the night in san fran, but i do have some advice for the future...

i actually went to the local petstore (petco, petsmart, whatever will do). theyve got rabbit litter pans. they are meant to go in corners, so are triangular. theyre like bowl-ish wish grates on the top. i put a brick on the grates and the waterer on top. that way when they tip the waterer or overflow it with pine shavings, all of the water goes into the litter pan instead of all over their mini-coop. i hope this made sense, heres a link to the litter pan i bought. seeing it might make more sense...
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752717

so i just set the waterer on top and clear out all wet shavings in the morning...

 

[Morgan7782]

That is clever!! I have it raised on a tupperware container right now, but is it very.. Iffy. I am worried about spending the night away from them, which doesn't make much sense considering even if I was in the room with them I would be asleep and not even know anything happened. I will look at that ad, and for tonight I will hope for the best. I am going to check them RIGHT before I crawl into bed with my Kitty, and check on them early in the morning. If the waterer does spill or get shavings in it, will they be ok until the morning?

 

[aubreynoramarie]

im pretty sure theyll be just fine until morning. before i found the litter thing at petsmart i would have to clean wet shavings out of a cardboard box every morning and my girls are still going strong. dont panic!

 

[Morgan7782]

Thank you lol! Since I raised the waterer it's not as bad as it was, but still, they can sure kick! I just checked in on them for the last time tonight. I have a lamp set on a far wall to offer some dim light, but it's not directly on them because it is a bright white light. I will check on them early in the morning, thank you for offering support in a new mom freak out moment haha. Goodnight all! Me and Kitty are off to bed.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

lol, aw...i am in the same boat as you, only maybe just a few weeks ahead!

hope the kitty is alright, same with the chicks!

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

Make sure what ever you put your waterer up on is smaller then the waterer itself. We tend to think just because we have used a brick or a bowl to elivate it we have solved the shaving problems. This isn't quite the case. Your water should be raised shoulder level to your chicks and adjusted as they grow. Make sure there are no outer edges showing from your elevation support. also keep food and water seperated at least 2 feet apart. If you are using wood chips to brood I would suggest against it. depending on where you live atwoods or TSC sells mini hay bails I start my chicks out on wheat straw, reason is they tend to kick the wood chips hard and there so light they fly everywhere.
They also will try to eat the chips. there is nothing in the world wrong with woodchips what so ever, but hay is longer bulker and can just grab the wet handful of hay out and place a fresh handful back down it makes clean up easier and keeps less trash in your water. I water my chicks 2 times a day and there is hardly one piece of straw in it. (the elevation and edges is to avoid birds pooing in there water if they have a lip to stand on rest assure there gonna drop some poo in there water)

 

[Morgan7782]

lol thanks MM but these chicks are 8 or 9 weeks old. They aren't being brooded exactly, just kept away from my current flock for quarantine. They are definately big enough to drink the water however high it's raised (which is about 3 inches or so). And definately old enough not to eat the bedding

Those are great tips though thanks!

Woke up this morning, went to check on them and all is fine! No spilled water and they still have food left! Yaaaay!

And my cat is doing better now, he was awfully sick to his tummy last night but that seems to have settled down. I gave him some grass, which helps upset tummy's, and he is moving around a bit livelier and such. Thank you all for the great tips and advice

 

[PineappleMama]

Must be marans... since they're doing the can-can.

We have the typical plastic feeder and waterer with the white plastic 'jug' that screws in.
Feeder, that rests on the top of the shavings... I give it a twisting shimmy to shake out any debris.

The waterer is a different story.... went to the hardware store and got a 6" screw in hook.
Poked a hole, then screwed the hook into the bottom of the 'jug' = top of the waterer.
Used washer/nut to tighten her up, and a pinch of silicon to seal.

Fill up with water and turn over just like normal, but then I've got 1' of chain that hangs from the shower caddy and I hook the hook part into that... move it to a high link as the girls get taller. They still make some mess, no doubt, but not remotely close to as icky as before.

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

Quote:
my apoligies was a long restless night I dont get much rest around here these days Next time perhaps I might pay more attention I was just reading something about 1 week old and 3 week old chicks before your post and mind must have wandered.