Keeping chicks warm?

[2pyrs]

Hello! I'm new here, and have been looking around for nearly an hour...mostly admiring all of the pictures.

We are fairly new to having BYC - a friend gave me 10 grown hens last summer, and we've done well with them. Yesterday, my children found their favorite hen (the only one who was tame) dead, and...to cheer them up, I guess, my husband picked up two chicks at the feed store. Right before closing. He was told to "keep them warm" which he figured meant that we should keep them inside.

After reading quite a bit all over the internet, I realized that that plan wasn't going to be enough, so I called my "chicken friend" who loaned me a heat lamp (with red bulb). The problem is, by the time I got home, it was already 9 pm...and we have no boxes in which to place the chicks so that the heat lamp can warm them up. My friend mentioned that, in a pinch, we could take a heating pad, wrap it in a towel, and put them on that - which is what we eventually decided to do, considering the dearth of boxes right now (gave 'em up for leprechaun traps, alas).

Once the two chicks were placed on the heating pad (which had been heating for a few minutes), they immediately calmed down, stretched out legs, wings, and necks, and went to sleep.

My questions for now

- Should I leave the heating pad on "high" overnight?
- Is their behavior (stretching out, mainly) normal?
- I'm worried they'll fall into the water and not get out. I have it fairly shallow, and the room they're in is dark, so should they be okay, or should I perhaps remove it?

I admit that I'm a little nervous about these two - the feed store sells only pullets, but these were the last two, and my chicken friend says that a group of chicks is guaranteed to have 90% pullets, so these little ones can be roos...and that would not be okay because I live in an area where chickens are not allowed, but are quietly tolerated by the authorities, and I definitely don't want to make the neighbors angry enough to report us. I'd read that "chipmunk"-striped chicks are usually girls, and these little ones don't have stripes... Should I be nervous?

Thanks in advance,
Natalie

 

[Tala]

They stretch out when they are warm and relaxed, think of a "sun bath" kindof deal. Adult birds do it too. They sound happy for now.
The main thing is can they GET AWAY from the heating pad if they feel too hot?? You don't want to cook them!

How big are they? Could you post a picture??? Their age and feathering has a lot to do with how warm they need to be, and how likely they are to drown.
What are you using for a water dish?? You can place rocks or marbles in it to prevent drowning. and what kind of food are you giving them???

Just because they are last doesn't necessarily mean that they are roos. Also the chipmonk pattern I think means that it's an Easter Egger (mixed variety of breed) and has nothing to do with sex. What color are their legs??

This should point you in the right direction: https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-first60days.html
Also there are several books you can check out at the library on poultry or livestock raising.

 

[NonnasBabies]

First

You've come to the right place!! Do you have one of those plactic bins that you could use till you can get something?? The water you could put some pebbles in there that way they can't drown. Yes their behavior is normal. I'm not sure if you should have it on high! I know when I use one on myself high is way to hot!! The "chipmunk" stripped that you usually get at the feed store can be Sex links. But not all chicks have that. If you can post a pic somebody cam probably help you figure out what you have!!!

HTH & Good Luck with your "babies"

Missi