I need to vent

[BigBird 2025]

That is definitely too hot for them. They need an area to cool down and keeping them at those temperatures will kill them. How hot is the garage? Ideally you want to have around 70-75 on the cool side and 95 on the warm side of the brooder for the first week and then every week after lower the hot side temp by 5° until 4 weeks old when they don’t need heat anymore.

This is a great help and takes a load off my mind, Looks like the chicks will be moving indoors and we will raise the A/C a bit and still use a heat lamp plus following your directions.
Thank you for this information

Now to break the news to my wife.

 

[BigBird 2025]

You should try getting them out within the first couple weeks of September. Keeping them in a brooder past then is really not needed and can become a huge pain. I moved mine out when it was still getting to just above freezing during the night at 5 weeks old.

Wow great info Being so new to all this is tough, glad we have all this wonderful experience in the BYC community.

 

[OnlySympathy]

Wow great info Being so new to all this is tough, glad we have all this wonderful experience in the BYC community.

I’m happy that we can help! A lot of info online can be all over the place and most of the time is just copied from another site which leads to a lot of misinformation. If you look around a lot of places say you shouldn’t put chicks outside before 6 weeks old and fully feathered but the truth is that it is dependent on the climate and other factors. If someone is planning on putting chicks outside in the middle of a New York winter then yes waiting until 6,7 or even 8 weeks is not a bad idea but if you are in a warmer climate like yours in late summer-early fall you can get them outside at 4-5 weeks old with no issues whatsoever. And remember that at some point everyone was new so don’t be afraid to ask questions even if they seem “stupid”

 

[OnlySympathy]

Now to break the news to my wife.

i can almost guarantee she will love them after you get them, they are so unbelievably cute. And having chicks inside is really fun I spent hours watching them run around and holding them. If you keep up with daily cleaning (I would pick out any poop I saw and mix up the bedding daily and every 3rd day I would complete change it out) it shouldn’t smell either.

 

[BigBird 2025]

i can almost guarantee she will love them after you get them, they are so unbelievably cute. And having chicks inside is really fun I spent hours watching them run around and holding them. If you keep up with daily cleaning (I would pick out any poop I saw and mix up the bedding daily and every 3rd day I would complete change it out) it shouldn’t smell either.

Thank you again this will help during the discussion,

 

[FlufferChick]

Clucky Monday FlufferChick.

So I got a question that I know you can help me with I hope.

This is probably going to sound ridiculous I am finding myself hesitant to picking up my baby chicks and bringing them home.

My question is: Being that you are also in Florida and dealing with this heat, where are you keeping your brooder and how are your babies doing with this insane heat. I have two places to keep my brooder My shop or the garage. I know the C.O.E (Chief Of Everything) of our house would prefer the shop over the garage but the shop is in the high 90's pushing 100F at times I can open the windows but it wont help much. Being a first time chicken dad I don't want to stress them out or worse.

I know first few day old chicks need Hi heat in the brooder but the selection at the store are now older and I am not sure how to proceed. Do I still need the heat lamp and let them self regulate or is the current temps in the shop/garage enough.

I would like to get my girls this week as they will be fully feathered by October and the coop will be done ready for them to move in since October stays fairly warm here in the south.

Any thoughts- suggestions- ideas- hand holding would greatly be appreciated

The C.O.E. says "Hand holding in this instance is acceptable"
To other readers your input would also be welcome. Thank you in advance.
Stay clucky everyone.
BB.

How exciting! I think everyone has already given you great advice- and I’m just a newbie too- but here’s what I’ve done so far. I hope it helps!

Mine are in my attached garage for now. But it doesn’t get too hot despite no AC (insulation and lots of trees) so I don’t know how it would compare to your garage. I have a brooder plate for warmth instead of a heat light. I figure it is already warm in there so don’t need to heat a lot of space in the brooder, plus the plates are safer. They used it the first few days a lot, not nearly as much now into the second week, but they do sleep under it. I like that moving it up is easy.
In an opposite corner I placed a wrapped ice pack that I rotate out. I’ve yet to see anyone hang out on it but I feel better that they have the option to cool down. Also have the garage window cracked and a low fan running for air circulation during the day. They might be a little spoiled here.
I kept just electrolyte water for the first week, now regular water as well. I’m using a large pb jar lid (with flat marbles in the bottom for weight) for the electrolytes because I only have the one waterer.
I plan on putting them in the coop at around four weeks- they’ve already had a couple trips out in the run with me for an hour or so and loved it.

 

[BigBird 2025]

Hello FlufferChick
and all the other poultry parents.
My apologies for not getting back to you sooner as usual life gets in the way around here. Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions I never thought of the jar lid what a great idea.

So as of Sunday the 10 of Aug. We became Poultry Parents. we purchased our chicks from Palmer feed in downtown Orlando, We picked up our allotted 4.

Chicks may not be accurate probably more like Pullets would be more accurate? I believe these gal's are about 6-8 weeks old and have majority of their feathers with just a little fuzz just barley discernable on the back of their heads.

After the discussion I had with the C.O.E. (chief of everything) several days before as to the need to keep them inside, which didn't go as smooth as I was hoping. I announced that I was going to go and pick out the birds to bring home, this was on a Friday. I was met to my astonishment with a disappointed reply of "I can't go with you?" So we were scheduled to go on Saturday but had to postpone till the next day.

We got to the feed store and were met with a loud cock-a- doodle do welcome upon exiting the truck along with a Moo hello from another pen. My wife made a bee-line to the enclosures and started peeking into each housing unit to check things out.

We also were greeted and started talking to several other enthusiastic customers and the day progressed smoothly from there. treating her to lunch at the Old Cuban Café probably didn't hurt ether.

Once in the store we found the display of what was left of their supply of birds. My wife started exploring the different bins and asked what I wanted? Of what was left we settled on 2 Americana for their Easter eggs and 2 Buff Orpington's. I really think my wife likes the idea of later on she can sit and pet them.

I know I said in an earlier post that I was not going to get the Buffs do to the heat here in Central Florida, but after talking to the owners son who has Buffs in his personal coop he told me just be sure to have abundant shade for them and a water bath and they will do fine. I asked about frozen water bottles in the bath and he said he didn't do that and his girls showed no sign of heat stress. That's still a part of my future care plan.

Got the girls home, placed them in their new home 30"x48"by 25"tall chicken wire enclosure covered in card board. HW cloth for a cover (was concerned about our cat ether trying to jump in or lay on top.)

Turns out the cat could careless ether way. She sits on the floor under the enclosure table as if to say "You stay up their and I'll stay down here."

My biggest concern was that they are in a 76 degree room so I placed the heat lamp about 30 inches above them to watch and see what happens. At first they played under it for a while then migrated away. 10 pm they were still chirping to beat the band and not settling down. Hmmm!
I got to thinking about the environment they had come from plus the fact they were still stressed. I made the decision to shut off the heat lamp as they didn't have one in the store and covered the top of the enclosure with card board. In less then 10 minus the chirping stopped and they settled in for the evening.

Day 2, to of the Birds kept trying to jump/fly out through the cover. Concerned that they were going to get hurt it suddenly occurred to me that in the store they could see out the side of the small enclosure they were kept in. I folded down the cardboard on one side and removed the cardboard from one end. As soon as I did that they stopped trying to escape and settled right in.

Each night I replace the card board and cover the top; turning off the light in the room to give them a cozy dark environment to settle in to sleep. It has worked well for the last three nights. Even when we talk near the cage in normal volume or walk by, hardly a sound is heard, just a gentle occasional peep.

Day 3 my girls greet me in the morning when I uncover their home and they are alive and seem to be thriving. Oh I forgot to mention they were introduced to watermelon on day 2. Not quite sure what it was they eyed it suspiciously. One of the Buffs got brave and challenged the piece stuck in the wire mesh and before long it was reduced to pieces parts.

So that was the start of being a new chicken Dad. I got to tell you I was nervous but it all seems to be working out. The girls will go out to their new home in about a month, that reminds me I got a door to build Talk later.

Stay Clucky!