Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

My brooder chicks are 3 1/2 weeks old (Araucanas and Breda Fowl). How warm does it have to be to put them OUTSIDE. They are really bored. I have been putting them out when the temp gets to 80 and leaving them in the hoop until either the temp goes down, or I need the hoop for the other broods. Is 75 warm enough?

 

[chicken danz]

My brooder chicks are 3 1/2 weeks old (Araucanas and Breda Fowl). How warm does it have to be to put them OUTSIDE. They are really bored. I have been putting them out when the temp gets to 80 and leaving them in the hoop until either the temp goes down, or I need the hoop for the other broods. Is 75 warm enough?

I have been putting them out at about 3 weeks lately. I just watch the temp in case it gets chilly then if it is supposed to get lower than 70 or so, I can plug in a sweeter heater at night. I haven't had to plug one in at all. One night in the past few weeks. I've never put them out that early but I want to get the last of these out of the house. Of course I have some larger groups so they have plenty of friends to snuggle with. I have my batch of Araucanas that are about the same age still in the house but only because I have a buyer who is on the fence. He wants enough to make a trip down here for them. The last of them is due to hatch the 2nd. So I am trying to hold out just a couple more days so I can let him know for sure what I have. The 3 week olds are now flying out of the bin now and then which isn't going to cut it around here.
It feels pretty hot out there already this morning. I was sure hoping for much cooler temps this week. I have a lot of work to do. I'm just not handling the humidity very well.
I sure don't want to live life over but it sure would be nice to be young again.

 

[Trish44]

They really should be old enough sharol to put outside permanently. Mine have done very well out there at that age in these temps. Danz that two cooler days we had here were wonderful, even though it was still hot at least it wasn't 100. We are forecasted to have two very hot days this week, ugh. I already had a rooster get overheated yesterday so now I'm going to have to watch them all. I had to spray him down with the hose twice to cool him down. He was looking better last night, at least he was walking around, a little wobbly but standing. He was one of the ones in the pens & it's one of the hoop coops that is on the southwest. There is shade, but maybe it just got a bit too much sun in there yesterday. Maybe I need to put up another wood trellis on there to filter the sun. I have some of those on some pens & it helps a lot. The air can still come through but it cuts down on the bright sun on the west side.

Danz I know what you mean, it's too bad we can't stay a certain age forever instead of getting old. I wouldn't want to do certain parts of my life over for sure but it would be nice to turn back the clock just a few years.

I have one more hatch of guinea keets coming up July 5th & I can officially shut down my incubator & hatcher for the year. Then I need to give them both a good cleaning to have them all ready for next year. They sure get messy over a hatching season with all of the chick fluff & stuff that gets all over in them. It will be so quiet in the house without the constant humming of the incubator & hatcher & when I get all of the chicks out of the brooders & out to the growout pen it really gets quiet. It's like something is missing in here without all of that because I get so used to all of the background noise.

 

[sharol]

They really should be old enough sharol to put outside permanently. Mine have done very well out there at that age in these temps.

Thanks, you and Danz. I needed some reassurance that I wasn't jumping the gun on putting them out. Our nights are down into the 60's, so since I can't get them any heat, I'll probably bring them in at night for a little longer.


Chicks are really durable little things for no bigger than they are.

 

[Anderson Lowe]

Hello fellow Kansans!  Glad to see we have our own thread. I am new to BYC, just joined yesterday. It seems I've jumped on the chicken wagon a little late. :/  Hehee. We'll be getting 8 week old chicks this August, two Isbars and two Bielefelders.

Is there anyone here who hails from Olathe? I've seen a couple threads, but nothing recent, though I could be looking in the wrong places.

Anyway, nice to see so many of us on here! I'm looking forward to learning what I can before our girls arrive.

Welcome and enjoy.
Lots of great help here

 

[sharol]

These are pictures of the same 3 1/2 week old chick. (s)e was hatched from a blue Araucana egg (honest, I swear she was). I don't know what to make of the tailfeathers. None of the others have any. It's a fairly skittish chick, so this was taken a ways away from straw bale. Whatever the deal is, it is a really cute baby, and mom has it trained to COME when she calls. I just wish she was raising the other 8. I'm thinking it has pretty big feet for a pullet, but where there is life there is hope.
.
*

 

[chicken danz]

These are pictures of the same 3 1/2 week old chick. (s)e was hatched from a blue Araucana egg (honest, I swear she was). I don't know what to make of the tailfeathers. None of the others have any. It's a fairly skittish chick, so this was taken a ways away from straw bale. Whatever the deal is, it is a really cute baby, and mom has it trained to COME when she calls. I just wish she was raising the other 8. I'm thinking it has pretty big feet for a pullet, but where there is life there is hope.
.
*

She is looking an awful lot like a he. Just the body shape looks rooster. That is really strange about the tail. They get kind of a poof at the back end so maybe it's just the direction the feathers are growing in. Too bad you can't run your finger over his backend. I am sure you would feel the absence of a tail. I've never had an Araucana hatched with a tail but I've heard it does happen. Weird. At any rate it looks like it is going to be a lovely blue splash color.
I've been out on the bobcat trying to move dirt. I sure have a lot more to do. It's really the first time I've been able to do any of this stuff. I could spend weeks out there working to get all I need done. I can't move the seat cause the adjuster handle is rusted in place and the seat is back to far. Hopefully I'll get that broken loose some day.

 

[sharol]

She is looking an awful lot like a he. Just the body shape looks rooster. That is really strange about the tail. They get kind of a poof at the back end so maybe it's just the direction the feathers are growing in. Too bad you can't run your finger over his backend. I am sure you would feel the absence of a tail. I've never had an Araucana hatched with a tail but I've heard it does happen. Weird. At any rate it looks like it is going to be a lovely blue splash color.

Yeah, that's what I though. And he is bigger than the other Araucanas (in the brooder). The color will be lovely, though. I think maybe I can steal him out from under his mother to get a feel of that backend. Chickens don't bite all that hard.

The 6 week olds ARE MOVING INTO THE COOP tonight if I have to wait until they roost and use a flashlight. They are with the flock all day, and there is no danger for them there. I moved their sleeping quarters to the coop today, and tonight is the night. Fingers crossed.

 

[Frizzled Pink]

@Danz, yes this is at Dads. Finding out all sorts of interesting history of this place the more we sort and clean out.

 

[DLC Eskies]

Hi!! Is anyone in/near Chapman?