Incubation vs buying baby chicks

[BirdsBeesTrees]

The lights I have are 250 watt, do you think this would be just too hot, or could it be manage with how far it can be in relation to the chicks? Sorry with all the questions, I just don't know of any other better group of people to ask than here.

You will need to position the lamp much higher off of the brooder. It does use more electricity too, so if you can find 125 watts I'd switch to that when you can.

 

[Aunt Angus]

That is good to know. I won't totally discount them then. They are pretty cute.

I have never incubated before. It seems stressful, imo. And I DO NOT want any more roosters - haha! But I would like to try it someday. If you go that route, I'll gladly follow.

 

[KM2H]

Cool.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I'm partial to Bantam and Large Cochins. Large Cochins are NOT doing well in this heat though... But my Bantam Cochins are breezing right through it. I like they don't have health problems (vitamin deficiencies) or the fluff in their eyes.

 

[KM2H]

I have never incubated before. It seems stressful, imo. And I DO NOT want any more roosters - haha! But I would like to try it someday. If you go that route, I'll gladly follow.

Our rooster seems nice but at the end of the day, still a rooster. I'm always watching my back, I was attacked by one when I was little and I worry about my 3 year old who loves to chase after the chickens, tries to grab them to give them love. So definitely don't want to add more roosters that would be a total mess.

 

[esme13]

As a mom and having seen their faces. Please don’t kill the messenger! I suggest both . I don’t know how many new additions you’d like, but having ordered the breeds of chicks I wanted has been a plus! I’ve ordered from the hatcheries and being able to select pullets and the kinds I wanted has been very fun!! I love a colorful flock! That said, I am a little chicken crazy and ordered a brinsea incubator (small). You could preplan an order of chicks and hatch out a small batch of chicks (this way not ending up with a bunch of roosters).

as for guinea fowl , well, there is a lot I can say on that. One, they are noisy! They just scream all day long the males honk and the females (buckwheat) that’s what they say all day long. It’s overwhelming and we live on a lot of acres. They also don’t come back at night, we had to search for them to come back , other wise the fox ate them. Skittish , flighty birds. Must have time to be chasing them .. back to the coop. And must have space, because they will end up in a neighbors property.

chickens do eat ticks

 

[KM2H]

I'm partial to Bantam and Large Cochins. Large Cochins are NOT doing well in this heat though... But my Bantam Cochins are breezing right through it. I like they don't have health problems (vitamin deficiencies) or the fluff in their eyes.

That definitely is a plus for me. I put apple cider vinegar and b-complex in their water. So far so good, but definitely appreciate hardy chickens. I have a very low tolerance to seeing dead birds.

 

[KM2H]

As a mom and having seen their faces. Please don’t kill the messenger! I suggest both . I don’t know how many new additions you’d like, but having ordered the breeds of chicks I wanted has been a plus! I’ve ordered from the hatcheries and being able to select pullets and the kinds I wanted has been very fun!! I love a colorful flock! That said, I am a little chicken crazy and ordered a brinsea incubator (small). You could preplan an order of chicks and hatch out a small batch of chicks (this way not ending up with a bunch of roosters).

as for guinea fowl , well, there is a lot I can say on that. One, they are noisy! They just scream all day long the males honk and the females (buckwheat) that’s what they say all day long. It’s overwhelming and we live on a lot of acres. They also don’t come back at night, we had to search for them to come back , other wise the fox ate them. Skittish , flighty birds. Must have time to be chasing them .. back to the coop. And must have space, because they will end up in a neighbors property.

chickens do eat ticks

The guinea comment is killing me , I think that getting them will be with me expecting them to be eaten at some point. I have seen some videos of people that have manage to train them to always come back to the coop but I think that is probably very difficult to achieve, I don't have that amount of time at the moment. Not that I deliberately don't care but it's one of those difficult decisions that one has to make peace with.

 

[NatJ]

The lights I have are 250 watt, do you think this would be just too hot, or could it be manage with how far it can be in relation to the chicks? Sorry with all the questions, I just don't know of any other better group of people to ask than here.

250 watt can be fine, but make sure your brooder space is large enough.
The heat lamp makes a hot area underneath.
When the lamp is close to the ground, you get a very hot space right underneath it, but that hot space is small.
When you raise the lamp higher, the space underneath is less hot, but the heated area is much larger.

The chicks need space to get away from the heat. So the higher you raise the lamp, the larger your brooder needs to be, so part of it can still be cool.

Since you already have a 250 watt light, I suggest you set it up somewhere (garage or shed or wherever you might brood chicks), stick a thermometer underneath, and play with the height until you get the right temperature. Then see how big of a brooder is needed. Right at first, it's best if the chicks can have some space about 90 to 95 degrees, and some space much cooler (below 80 degrees, but above freezing. The exact temperature of the "cool" space is not too important, because the chicks move around to find the exact spots that feel right to them.) As they get older and grow feathers, you reduce the temperature of the warm part.

 

[KM2H]

250 watt can be fine, but make sure your brooder space is large enough.
The heat lamp makes a hot area underneath.
When the lamp is close to the ground, you get a very hot space right underneath it, but that hot space is small.
When you raise the lamp higher, the space underneath is less hot, but the heated area is much larger.

The chicks need space to get away from the heat. So the higher you raise the lamp, the larger your brooder needs to be, so part of it can still be cool.

Since you already have a 250 watt light, I suggest you set it up somewhere (garage or shed or wherever you might brood chicks), stick a thermometer underneath, and play with the height until you get the right temperature. Then see how big of a brooder is needed. Right at first, it's best if the chicks can have some space about 90 to 95 degrees, and some space much cooler (below 80 degrees, but above freezing. The exact temperature of the "cool" space is not too important, because the chicks move around to find the exact spots that feel right to them.) As they get older and grow feathers, you reduce the temperature of the warm part.

Thank you, this is valuable information to have.