Help chicks in my house for a couple days.

[Daisy96]

Ok last year we got 6 chicks kept them outside in the brooder had a heat lamp on them the clip on kind but not red just regular bulb. I never checked the temp just kept the light on one side until we moved them to the coop. Then we put it in there for a couple of cool nights just in case. They did fine.

This year its still cool hear it warmed up and then got cool and rainy this week. So my daughter wanted to stop and see if they had chicks in yet. They did and I couldn't resist. So we came home with 4 Golden Sexlinks.
The problem is the brooder is not ready. The board rotted out of the bottom, my husband can't fix it until Sat. after he gets off work. So my plan is to keep them in my house for a couple of days. Don't a lot of you keep them inside for weeks.

Anyway I have them in a rubbermaid container. Pine shavings in the bottom water in one corner and a birder feeder in the other corner with the food in it so they won't poop in food, since the slider tray thing was to long for the container.

The light is my biggest concern. I have always heard you need a light on them. Do you even inside your home? I am so concerned it will catch the plastic container on fire or the shavings or burn the chicks or both. Don't want to go to bed with light on inside. I have heard of people homes burning down that had a light on puppies, Outside.
Also my hubby says when they had chicks he doesn't remember his dad ever having a light on them. It is 51 here but it is 73 in my home. Any safe ideas I can do quickly. Also something fairly easy since hubby is heading to bed and I am 29 weeks pregnant.

 

[dbounds10]

You need to have light on them, they could die overnight. Mine are in the house and have been for 3 weeks now. I have a red heat bulb in a clip on light. There are lots of ways to secure it. I have mine wired to a kitchen chair with a coat hanger to ensure it wont fall and it is high enough that it wont melt the plastic tub or burn up the chicks.

I have also heard of people putting a heating pad on low setting under one side of the tub so that one side is warm and the other is cooler so if they get to warm, they can move.

Good Luck

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

It needs to be 90 in your house to be warm enough. I've had chicks in my house till they were four wks old on my last 4 hatchs. Put a piece of hardware cloth or some kind of screen over the top of the container so if the light falls it won't land in the shavings. There's many ways you can rig up something and still be safe. Good luck with your little ones..

 

[Daisy96]

What about this, hubby put a regular 60w bulb in the heatlamp. It is over the container. Will that work?

 

[lemongrass]

Okay its not super quick/easy but... I'll let you know what we do and I'll also offer some other suggestions.

Does the rubbermaid still have the top? We do the same thing here. We cut half of the top out, kind of make a big square hole in one side. To that we staple chicken wire. On top, we have a red heat lamp in those bowl-shaped metal things with the clamp. To that attach 4 metal "stands" so it can be adjusted. Our metal stands are some old license plate we found in our barn (we just bought the house, lots of goodies... lol) cut up into 4-5" strips and bent as needed. At first, though, depending on the strength of the light, the thing may need to be flush on the chicken wire anyway.

As for a fix tonight, do you still have the clip-on lamp? I suggest standing another lap or something tall and sturdy next to it, clip the brooder lamp on, put a bulb in it and put it on the chicks. Check how the chicks react. If they still huddle, fight to get under the light, chirp loudly and don't stop, then its still too cold... lower the light, or hopefully find a higher wattage.

Next idea, do you have any of those water bags? Fill one up and put a towel/scrap fabric over it (it'll get messy..) so they have something warm to snuggle up with. Another idea, warm the towels themselves up (http://www.ehow.com/how_2294498_heat-towels-microwave.html), put a dry towel over top so they don't get wet with the damp warmed towels, and voila. Whether or not you can warm up non-dampened towels in the microwave, I'm not sure. I don't think I'd try it though.

Another option MAYBE, but I think it would be too much of a fire hazard so I wouldn't use it unless in dire straights and I could check it often, is to use an electric heating pad on low setting. Put a towel over it. I don't think I'd put the shavings on it though....

All just ideas to do in a pinch for one night, until you can get a more "permanent" solution tomorrow..

 

[lemongrass]

Quote:
Two things... 1)do you have a thermometer to check the temperature in the brooder with the heatlamp on them? If so, it should be around 90-95 degrees. Everyone says definitely 95 but...

2) how are the chicks acting? Are they huddling under the light for warmth or moving about / sleeping comfortably and not shoving themselves tightly together under the light? Their action is the biggest sign if its good or not.

 

[tgperg]

I used a 250 wt bulb in a regular floor lamp stand that had a socket you could point downward. That worked for a baby duck last week, and also for the baby chicks I brought home today just long enough to introduce them to their new mama.

Traci

 

[Jerseyjack]

Daisy, I have the exact same setup as you in my house now. I used a strip of hardwood flooring across the top of the rubbermaid container and clamped it to both sides, then clamped the lamp to it. I also have a thermometer set up inside, at chick level. Although the thermometer is in the far corner opposite the lamp side, it reads a steady 85*, so i'm sure it's close to 90-95* at the lamp side. Also, there are no drafts and I use a 75w bulb

 

[Daisy96]

Well when I checked on them a little while ago, they were all just sitting close but not piled on top of each other like before the light. Looking content, I think. Then just now they were eating again and chirping a little.

I have never seen this before they are sitting down and just sticking there head right over and eating without eveing getting up. Lazy little things.... lol

 

[lemongrass]

I was just thinking how I've never seen them eat while sitting, when I walked into my brooding room to check on them and there one was -- sitting next to the feed and pecking at it! lol.