I took the plunge today and bought three chicks!!!!

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Sandywitch

Sandywitch

Songster
7 Years
Oct 29, 2013
190
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OK, I know that if I waited until hubby built a coop I'd NEVER get any chicks. Soooooooo................after getting everything ready for a brooder, we went and bought my very first three chicks today!!! One Buff Orpington (3 wks old), one Barred Rock (3 wks old), and one Cuckoo Marans (5 wks old)! They will need a coop in a few weeks that will fly by, so he's got to get started now! hehehe They are SO CUTE! They seemed a bit listless when we got home, but that was probably from the 90 minute drive back from the hatchery where I got them. That's the closest one I could find, but this way at least I know they are being raised in the same climate as where we are, so they should do fine. Once they were in the brooder a while and out of that little box, they rested a bit, then headed for the food, water, and chick gravel. I heard all sorts of peeps.

I thought we were supposed to keep a heat lamp on them 24 hours a day for several weeks. I started out at 85 and then raised the lamp a bit to get it to about 82 where they seemed happier with it and stayed about in the middle (the lamp is shining down into one end). I planned to lower it 5 degrees each week until their temperature and the outside temperature match. They're in the kitchen, but my kitchen usually isn't very warm. The wood stove we heat the house with is in the dining room. Now I've read that the heat lamp is only supposed to be on over night. Does anyone know if that's true?

Anyway, we have a lid on the storage bin with a hole cut out and hardware cloth over it so the can can't get to them. I'm sure the two little dogs we have startle them when the barking starts, but since that's usually in the next room, they will get used to hearing them. Since the brooder is on top of the drier, the dogs can't get to them either.

I hope someone knows if the heat lamp is to remain on constantly until it's down to about 65 or not.

Namaste!
 
Hello & welcome,
Hope your hubby can build fast!! Anyway, keep the heat lamp on all the time until they are fully feathered out. Sounds like you already have the hang of adjusting it for comfort. I have never brooded inside, but I would imagine that it requires lower output from the heat lamp because of ambient temp. in the house - keep adjusting for comfort level of chicks. They will get used to the dogs. I have 2 cats that wander in/out of the coop on mouse patrol & the Beagles love to eat chicken poop (
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) - so they too wander in and out of the coop, the chickens don't mind them at all. Having said that, I would not trust any dog/cat with a small fluffy, peeping & flapping creature - they make nice toys to play with..........
Good luck with your babies,
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we have low temperatures in the ten day forecast so......if my eggs hatch next Tuesday I will need to keep heat lights on them 24/7. The area will be large enough so they can wander and still find the heat if they get cold (ten square feet)
 
Thank you! I THOUGHT I'd read several places to keep the light on around the clock, but that other article had me wondering! I appreciate the quick response because I wouldn't want to mess up!

Yeah, hubby will be able to see for himself how fast they're going, and maybe that'll prompt him to move faster. We already got an extra section of wooden fence to extend the side yard and I heard him tell our son he'll need help real soon to put in the new post and move some others forward. I THINK I can have a few hens in the city, but I want to be sure the coop and run are behind the fence so they aren't too obvious.............just in case. They're next to a state road and then a railroad track on the other side of that so nobody should mind there. The house next to us has been vacant for the last four years. I only really have one neighbor across the street and she's a good sort and probably would get a kick out of them. I read the city ordinances online, which was a tad confusing. I gathered that I can't have dyed chicks, which I wouldn't anyway, nor pigs, horses, cows, or goats. Then it said something about not buying or selling less than six chickens???? If approached about having three, well, three didn't make it all the way home. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL!!! That sounds like a dumb ordinance, unless it's to keep people from getting one dyed chick for a child at Easter and then losing interest and just letting it run wild instead of taking proper care of it. Who knows? Anyway, I can hardly wait to decorate a coop!
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I can hardly wait to get the first egg, either!

Thanks again!
 
tell your builder to put an apron of wire (18-24 inches) out from the bottom toward the predator. the dog or raccoon won't backup very far and will stop digging soon after hitting wire, bury or weigh it down so the grass will grow through it, then you can mow without hitting the wire.
 
Wow, how many eggs are you trying to hatch? That's a nice large area for them! I know they cuddle, too, if they're cold. I'll continue to keep the light on. It's a read heat lamp so it's not a bright as a white light so they should be able to sleep whenever they want even with it shining at one end. I have a temperature probe in it right under the light so I can see what the temperature is in there. The lady I bought the chicks from said it wouldn't hurt the 5 wk old chick to be kept at the same temperature as the two 3 wk old ones. I hope she was right.
 
30 on Tuesday, most are mutts, looking forward to seeing all the crazy crosses. I have four different kinds of dual purpose large fowl that I am getting to know their personalities and how they do in cold weather.
 

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