Chicks won't settle down!

[chickiegrrl]

Our chicks are about 3.5 weeks old. Right now they're in a large, clear storage container w/shavings, food, water, some fresh grass and grit. Right now they're all peeping rather loudly, looking out of the side of the brooder at us. They won't quiet down and chill out. I've given them the grass and a few mealworms. I fluffed their shavings, readjusted the light, filled the water. They just won't settle down. What can we do? We tried turning off the light and the cacophony gets even louder! Any ideas?

 

[Eggcessive]

Are they too hot? How many do you have in the brooder? Enough room? They tend to get the "zoomies" about that age, running, flying, trying to go out of the brooder, etc. Normal behavior, but sometimes a red light, even just a 25 watt fluorescent if they don't need the heat any more, will calm them. Just make sure they have enough room. You might need to expand their world a bit.

 

[chickiegrrl]

Maybe that's the problem. They were outside 3x today for about 1/2 an hour each time. They really enjoyed it. I think they may be begging to get out. (Don't tell them, but we switched our light to a compact fluorescent last night.) It's 76 degrees in our house, so they really didn't need the "heat". I'll have to look for a red bulb tomorrow to see if that can settle them. Hopefully they'll get tuckered out and just sleep tonight. They're kind of driving us nuts right now.

Thank you for the quick reply, Eggcessive!!!


Oops, I forgot to add, we only have 4 in there, they have plenty of room.