Getting my chicks from Ideal This coming week!!

[Teresaann24]

My chicks ship out monday I have been watching the news and we are having some kind of odd heat wave..LOL All in the 40's 50's next week so I hope the travel they will be ok.

My Questions are..What all do I need to have on hand.

I have a 20gal plastic tote I will be using for a brooder. With chicken wire across the top
I have a heat lamp with a 60watt bulb.

I have pine shavings for the bedding I have a water that uses a mason jar I have a metal chick feeder. I have some Pedilyte on hand for when they get there. I have medicated chick feed, What eles do I need?

Will I need a kitty litter scoop to help clean poop from beding to refresh it?

How many times a week should I change their bedding?

I will only have 4 silkie chicks and maybe 2 RIR chicks.

I am still very worried they will be a day late and I will have to wait till the 2nd of Jan to get my chicks because of new years. Ideal asured me they should arrive on the 31st but I know how the mail can mess things up.

Any advice would be great!

 

[silkiechicken]

I'd set up that brooder and make sure you can heat it up good enough, without the head lamp being too close to the bin to melt it. They'll out grow it fast!

It might help to get a paver stone to put the water on just in case of spillage, and may help to get the shavigs down with the towls on top so it's hot and ready for the babies!

Clean it out when you think it's dirty, no hard rules on when. You can use a kitty scoop if you want, or once you get used to it all.. your bare hands!

Good luck on the shipment! Hope you get them on the 31st!, since they'll be goners by the 2nd. Without heat, food, and water, they can only last so long. 72 hrs max.

 

[the1much]

my last shipment was the 22cnd,, i ended up getting them the 26th,, 1 was doa,, the rest were, and are doing great!!.
this is the first time ive gotten an order from them that was late,, i usually get it the night of the morning they go out.
i put sugar in the water,, had their brooder all heated up,, and everything went great.

 

[kentuckychickenmomma]

We also have chickens comming from Ideal on the 31st too , but we ordered 100 pullets and 20 roos , black star, black austrolops (spelling , sorry???) Production Reds , and Red Stars. I never thought about the holiday , but I know that even though there is no mail service, there is actually mail trucks still running and people at the main post office, which ours is about 60 miles away, my ex works for the main post office for our area , I know the truck was at the post office here in town on Christmas , so deliveries are still made , hopefully someone will call both of us as soon as they come in.

 

[montyhp]

One thing I would definitely do is call the local post office and ask them how they handle the delivery. Mine called me when they came in and I went right down and picked them up. I called a day before and they told me exactly how things work.

One other thing is you should have a thermometer. I got one at the pet store that is made for reptiles. I was worried about the chicks getting too cold, but my brooder was up to 104 and the chicks were all panting. Fortunately, mine are over 3 weeks now and much less susceptible to temperature swings (80 degrees today, 35 tomorrow night).

I did have two die within the first couple of days. That is not all that uncommon, just stress. The remaining 15 are healthy and happy.

Montyhp

South Texas

 

[Teresaann24]

I will deff be getting a thermometer to keep a eye on the temps. What should the temp be at?

Also how many packing peanuts will they send with the order of 8 silkies?

I heard Ideal normally sends packing peanuts are RIR is this true?

I have talked to my post lady she told me she would call me as soon as they arrived I only live about 10 15 mins max from my post office.

 

[the1much]

90 is a good temp for them for the first week,, then 80 the second week,, and down 10 degrees till ya get down to 70,,, then ( according to your weather) you could just turn it on during the cold nights,,,, some people keep the heat up on 90 for a month or so,,, but thats not how i do it.
and packing peanuts could be anything,, usually its whatever they have extra of,,, and they usually run out of rir's , so i dont know what they would use,,, i never get any extras

 

[kentuckychickenmomma]

I too am unsure about Ideal with the extra's. I know some hatchery places send extra chicks when you do not order a full box , meaning 25 per side or something like this. One that our friend uses sends an extra 100 for every 300 you order, they were all roosters but he ended up getting rid of them anyhow to people who only needed a rooster so it all worked out in the end.

As with the post office , I called my post master as well , and she said she would call me as soon as she got in there and they were there that day. We have never ordered from a hatchery , always hatch our own , we still are hatching now even though we are ordering these. Ideal is the only one we could find that were hatching at this time of year and they seemed to be supprised when my hubby told them this. We split the shippment with a friend , we took the BS and the Black AUstrolops, so does anyone know how to tell these apart?? LOL , We never thought of this till after we ordered them.

 

[the1much]

Quote:
what hatchery is that ????? hehe,, man i would LOVE an extra 100 for every 300 ordered

and have fun telling them chicks apart,, i never get the 2 at the same time lol

 

[montyhp]

Quote:
What I have read is to start at 95 and reduce 5 degrees per week until about 70 degrees. I have found, with all animals, that if you spend time observing them you can find out if they are happy and comfortable and what is normal. If the chicks crowd together under the light they are cold. If they push toward the edges and pant they are too hot.

Ideal may send 6 to 8. I got 4 with an order of 13. I got 4 Buff Orpington roosters as the freebies.

I'll be keeping one of the roosters, giving one away, and eating the other two.

Good Luck

Montyhp