Is it too cold outside in the desert for babies??!!

[cjatthefarm]

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They are beautiful!!! OH ! I hope I will do this well! I want pretty babies toooooo!!!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Ooh ooh, I got the "your poultry has shipped email"... yay! Maybe we will get our babies at the same time!!!

 

[cjatthefarm]

I DID!! Just opened it!! 72 hours......I am really getting nervous 'bout this! BUT! I am armed with good information--thanks everyone! The babies will reside in a Rubbermaid storage bin--in the guestroom---bedroom shower!!!

I hope your babies---and mine---are very---very well!!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Good luck to both of you on your impending chicks.

I am so envious.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Yay! We'll have to share baby pics!!!

 

[Rozzie]

Newspaper, cardboard, and other smooth papers are dangerous because the chicks can get spraddle leg from walking on them. These things are too smooth and get slippery from poo. Then, the chicks don't have enough traction for walking safely. It's kind of like us trying to walk on ice in smooth bottomed shoes. Our legs go every which way, though some people might manage okay.

Chicks that are placed on things that don't have enough traction can slip around while trying to walk. It can cause permanent damage to their legs. This can be so bad that they cannot walk at all and have to be culled.

Using the shelf liner, paper towels, wood chips, etc. gives some traction for them. They won't slip as easily when they walk.

Note: Some types of shelf liner are REALLY slick. You have to choose carefully. See the picture I linked to. This is the type that has holes all the way through, is soft and a bit squishy, etc. If they spill food on it then it goes through the holes. It doesn't sit on top to get mixed up with poo and make a royal mess, either.

 

[cjatthefarm]

Thanks ROZZIE!! That is good information! I bought burlap material on one of my shopping trips at Walmart along with the pine shavings; I MUST have read that here somewhere---?

My neighbor told me it would get to 'icky'. And to just use newspaper.

But I washed & dried the burlap to use it, and could do several pieces and wash again.....I got 3 yards of the stuff!!

Thoughts?

 

[cjatthefarm]

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I ordered from Ideal. Where are your coming from??

 

[Rozzie]

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That seems like it would work. You may want to hem the edges, if you can. You don't want strings hanging off that they could get around their legs or necks like a noose.