Greetings Earthlings... (o:

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Seymore

Seymore

In the Brooder
Apr 22, 2015
76
28
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Western Washington
Newbie from W. WA. New chick father here and what an experience... the DW (dear wife) wanted chickens this year, so I had to build a coop. You can see it in my profile. Started with the build back in Oct 14'. It's a walk in coop with a partial raised floor that's 6x9. Since it's quite wet in W. WA, I figured it would be good to not stand in the rain to collect eggs... ;)

So, 6 days ago she brought home 2-3 day old chicks. 2 each of Speckled Sussex, Ameraucana, Silver Laced Wyandotte and Red Sexlink. Well, the learning curve is steep... didn't pay all that much attention to the heat in the brooder (in the spare bath's tub) and it broached ~102 within days... lesson learned. We did lose a Sussex due to the heat, but learned to get the temp down ASAP. Got it to ~92 within a few mins of the loss and have maintained the high 80's till yesterday. Now sitting between 82-86F and the girls seem to like it.

One exception... we have a Wyandotte that appears to be a runt, may have also been affected by the heat, but she had her vent pecked hard by the remaining Sussex. (which now seems to be the local alpha) Actually, the Sussex pecked the vents of both Wyandottes! Much be a smell the Wyandottes are producing, but the Sussex is not doing this to any of the others. So, both Wyandottes have been isolated from the others, in the brooder. We did try Bag Balm on the vent of the healthy Wyandotte and reintroduced to the flock with no change. The Sussex still pecked the vent. :( I'll search the site re: this issue and hope to find some good reads. If anyone has anything to add here, even just link(s), I'll look forward to the read.

Well, this is it for now. Glad the search engine here works. Sure I'll find most of my answers in short order...

Cheers...
Seymore
 
It would be easier to remove the Sussex from the flock, since she is the only one being destructive. Otherwise you will have to reintegrate the whole rest of the flock to each other.

Actually young chicks are kept at a higher temp after hatching. About 95 the first week, and lowered by 5 degrees each succeeding week. The heat lamp should be situated so that one end of the brooder is not as hot. Then the chicks could migrate to the side that meets their needs.

Do you have a wire top on the brooder so there is good air exchange? Is the brooder large enough for all of them? When chickens are overcrowded they fight, feather pluck, and in some cases resort to cannibalism.
 
BTW The Learning Center is the best place to start a chicken education.
welcome-byc.gif
 
Yes, it may be easier to move the Sussex, but one of the Sexlinks was also pecking at the runt Wyandotte in the beginning, sorta mimicking the Sussex. Monkey see, monkey do? But we have hardware cloth as the separator in the brooder now and everyone can see/interact.

BTW, been doing the Epsom Salt soak, vaseline and using Banixx pet care spray from my local Feed Bin on the runt. It's been 2-3 days of separation and the runts vent is looking much better, but she is still very small, in comparison to the others. If she makes it, we may need to "keep her back a grade" and reintroduce a few weeks after the others transfer to the coop. OH, and she's VERY unstable on her feet. Almost like an equilibrium issue. Falls over while preening and can't walk a straight line. (No, alcohol is not involved... (o:) Going now to search on this...

The brooder is a 2'x3' plastic storage container with hardware cloth (1.5'x2') in the cutout lid. There are 7, week old chicks in this space. Actually, being they are only a week old, the lid is only used to create some shady areas. It is not "on" the box, so airflow is not an issue. We're also using a cheap Wally bought indoor/outdoor type thermostat on the heat lamp side of the brooder. I did allow it to sit beside my home thermostat, so I could adjust it to be more accurate... but it was made in China, so... This being said, it may be off by a few degrees, but I think it's quite close. We also dropped the temp a bit because it was not really a "pile of chicks", but more spread out, like they were hot. (I know, my DW can move away from my on the bed, because of body heat) Yes, the light is at one side of the brooder with food/water on the other side. The girls do sleep under the lamp.

BTW, I do watch for these things and "try" to use common sense to eval situations. But please do not hesitate to tell me when I'm off-base, if you see anything I may have misconstrued.


The Learning Center??? Oh, I see it now, thanks!
 

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