Hi! I am so happy to be part of this amazing site! I have already learned so much in the past couple of days while reading over a few things. My daughter's second grade class hatched some chicks and we ended up getting the last 3. We have 1 Barred Rock and 2 that are a project the farm (where eggs & incubator came from) is working on (I know it's part olive Egger). So we have 3 chicks that are almost 3 weeks old. My family consists of myself, my daughter (will be 8 years old at the end of August), and her dad. This is our first time having chicks. We have other pets, 2 girls and 1 boy, all Maltese dogs, that are very loved. I am in the process of choosing a coop, so our tiny flock is staying in my dog grooming shop for now, in the plastic tote brooder. To begin with, I used puppy potty pads and nonslip shelf liner, in the bottom of the brooder. After reading, I just put sand down in a larger tote today and they seem to like it. I am using the standard Quart plastic jar with screw on waterer and the very similar feeder. They're eating the flock raiser crumbles but before that, it was an unmedicated chick starter. I forgot to mention before that I do use a clamp on heat lamp (didn't know there were options for wattage so I had to return the 250w after feeling how hot it got and now use a 75w, but I am trying to figure out how to get away from a heat lamp, if at all possible since it is so hot here). I am very worried that I have 3 roosters as I was hoping to have only hens for the start. My daughter wants to really help with everything so I worry about having a rooster while we both learn how to do this. I am so grateful for the information here. I doubt we would have living chicks if it wasn't for BYC. I wouldn't have known about pasty butt and what to do. The day I brought them home from the school, I was cleaning vents as 1 of the chicks was completely blocked and another was almost blocked. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and knowledge. I sincerely appreciate it
Welcome from New Orleans. I use broodies to hatch and care for chicks, so I won't be much help. However there are lots of informed people who can be very informative. Until they come along, check the forums for info on raising chicks without a broody hen, I am sure you will find lots of interesting reading. Don't be shy about jumping into a similar thread and asking questions. Mostly enjoy your chicks and good luck with the temp issue. 
