How young is too young?

[jpalmatier83]

I have yet to let my littles, almost 3 weeks old, into the run. It is fully covered, and has a large fan blowing into it, but so far, I am keeping the temps just under outside temps with all I mentioned, plus, now I have a gallon jug of water that is frozen, in front of the fan I placed just outside the run door. The fan blows onto the bottle as it thaws, cooling the air down in that immediate area. The babies tend to gather around it staying cool, and drinking the cold water condensation on the outside of the bottle. It is like the office water cooler! lol

Plus, I am not sure I would be able to get them back into the coop at night. I am going to need to rehome some of the babies, so hopefully, when I get the numbers down to what I can keep, I can get them in and out easier.

If you’ve had them in the coop for several days they should be “homed” to it and will go back in at night on their own (as long as there isn’t a more tempting place to sleep outside, think high perch or low tree limb).

 

[Ohregano]

I put three day old chicks out with no added heat last week.

What are your overnight temps looking like? We've been in the mid-80's to mid-90's during the day. Overnight drops down to around 60. I got 25 chicks, and 15 keets last week. The keets haven't done well and I'm down to only 4. I lost my first 2 chicks last night. Otherwise, everyone looks great, and will be a week old tomorrow.
Their brooder is outside. I'll have the run area of the brooder totally enclosed with hardware cloth by tomorrow. I was worried they'd get too cold if I let them out, but now I'm not so sure.

 

[Kiki]

What are your overnight temps looking like? We've been in the mid-80's to mid-90's during the day. Overnight drops down to around 60. I got 25 chicks, and 15 keets last week. The keets haven't done well and I'm down to only 4. I lost my first 2 chicks last night. Otherwise, everyone looks great, and will be a week old tomorrow.
Their brooder is outside. I'll have the run area of the brooder totally enclosed with hardware cloth by tomorrow. I was worried they'd get too cold if I let them out, but now I'm not so sure.

My over night low temp tonight may get down to 80.


Did you chicks and keets come from the same place and are you keeping them in the same area?

 

[Kiki]

I guess I can start leaving them in the coop all night and just leave water til morning. Thank you so much.

How are things going?

 

[Ohregano]

My over night low temp tonight may get down to 80.


Did you chicks and keets come from the same place and are you keeping them in the same area?

I bought all of the birds from Cackle Hatchery. 10 of the 12 keets were dead in the first 48 hours (they sent 17, but I ordered 15). I am keeping them in the same brooder. However, I have a lower heat source specifically for them. The ones that died I think never went under the heat source at night, as I found them far away from it the next morning. The 2 chicks that passed were 5 days old. Not sure what happened with them. They were both under or near the heat.

 

[Kiki]

I bought all of the birds from Cackle Hatchery. 10 of the 12 keets were dead in the first 48 hours (they sent 17, but I ordered 15). I am keeping them in the same brooder. However, I have a lower heat source specifically for them. The ones that died I think never went under the heat source at night, as I found them far away from it the next morning. The 2 chicks that passed were 5 days old. Not sure what happened with them. They were both under or near the heat.

You are feeding them all the same thing?

 

[Ohregano]

You are feeding them all the same thing?

They are all getting game bird starter. I had done a little googling and read that chicks could have game bird starter, and knew the guineas needed it. All but 2 or 3 of the dead keets were alone in a corner when I found them. Not anywhere near the heat source. They seem to be pretty stupid... I haven't had anymore deaths since that post. Everyone is looking great and getting big. If I ever do guineas again, it will ONLY be guineas.

 

[Kiki]

They are all getting game bird starter. I had done a little googling and read that chicks could have game bird starter, and knew the guineas needed it. All but 2 or 3 of the dead keets were alone in a corner when I found them. Not anywhere near the heat source. They seem to be pretty stupid... I haven't had anymore deaths since that post. Everyone is looking great and getting big. If I ever do guineas again, it will ONLY be guineas.

Are the chicks doing ok on the Game bird starter?
What percentage protein is your game bird starter?