Keets arrived from Guinea Farm of Iowa. Pics included.

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Oh my gosh. I just checked on them and the majority are under the plate, not the lamp.

Good! They know what it’s for and they’ll use it. I guess I can worry a little less and try to stop guessing the ways and whys of nature.

I have a window cracked and it’s cold in the room. Outdoor temp is 57. I figured some air circulation is good and may help transition to outdoors. Their pen is well blocked from draft. That ok?

Sounds like those keets are trying to give you some gray hairs! Have you been able to rig up a cover on your indoor brooder so they don’t fly out? It seems to me that your idea about slowly getting them off the heat lamp and onto the heat plate is good. Can you use the rheostat to gradually turn down the heat light so they get less and less warmth from it and learn to use the plate?

 

[Bicoastal]

Have you been able to rig up a cover on your indoor brooder so they don’t fly out? It seems to me that your idea about slowly getting them off the heat lamp and onto the heat plate is good. Can you use the rheostat to gradually turn down the heat light so they get less and less warmth from it and learn to use the plate?

Yes, the ex-pen is 4' tall and has a lid. They are definitely testing out their wings!

I have turned down the heat lamp to reach 85 degrees and at night I have stopped getting up through the night to adjust, so overnight the temp drops quite a bit lower. A handful are under the plate right now and they all seem a little puffy. I closed the window to all but 1/2". Thermometer is reading just under 90, so surely they aren't cold...

After cleaning and returning them to the pen, one was looking not so great. Initially he puffed up and sat under the heat lamp breathing hard with his eyes closed while everyone else was bopping around checking out the new decor. Vent is clear, nostrils are clear. Now he is more integrated and at the feeder with everyone else. Is that from the stress of being caged up for an hour? I herd them into a cat carrier then let them walk out on their own, trying to keep it as low stress as I can.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Yes, the ex-pen is 4' tall and has a lid. They are definitely testing out their wings!

I have turned down the heat lamp to reach 85 degrees and at night I have stopped getting up through the night to adjust, so overnight the temp drops quite a bit lower. A handful are under the plate right now and they all seem a little puffy. I closed the window to all but 1/2". Thermometer is reading just under 90, so surely they aren't cold...

After cleaning and returning them to the pen, one was looking not so great. Initially he puffed up and sat under the heat lamp breathing hard with his eyes closed while everyone else was bopping around checking out the new decor. Vent is clear, nostrils are clear. Now he is more integrated and at the feeder with everyone else. Is that from the stress of being caged up for an hour? I herd them into a cat carrier then let them walk out on their own, trying to keep it as low stress as I can.

Ugh. I don’t like it when they look like that. It sounds like your handling is admirably low stress so I doubt it’s handling stress? I know you’ve been trying to get them ready to go outside but I’d keep an eye on that one and consider keeping them on regular heat for a bit in case that keet is brewing an illness. If that was the only episode then it’s probably nothing. If you see it or others fluffed up, hunched, lethargic, then I’d think about whether they need some kind of treatment. Is the pasty butt all resolved?

 

[Bicoastal]

Is the pasty butt all resolved?

Yes, the pasty butt seems to be all resolved for multiple days now.
I have the heat lamp and the brooder plate, so they definitely have options to warm up.

Hopefully it was just a fluke.

 

[Bicoastal]

I’m taking care of a neighbor’s orphaned two-week old wild rabbit. MHP has multiple uses!

Every finger and toe crossed it doesn’t die on my watch.

 

[Bicoastal]

Last night was tough. I was awoken at 2am by screaming. I’m afraid of what I’ll see when I open the door. Surely someone is hanging from a leg that is now broken or there is some other catastrophe. They were all streaking around, bashing into walls, crashing into the ceiling, in a panic I have never seen before. As if there was a cobra in their pen. They were going to injure themselves panicking like that.

It seems like one got stuck between two layers of cardboard, then squeezed out unharmed. Two more followed as I watched.

I had to turn the light on to find the escapees, but that only revved up everyone more. Escapees returned, overhead light turned off, everyone settled back down quickly. But it took me an hour to stop laying in bed holding my breath listening, afraid I missed one escapee.

I’m afraid I have to tear down the pen and start over. There are too many holes for their level of activity and flight now. And there aren’t very many holes! Probably need to line it with bird netting floor to ceiling and cardboard around the lower half.

When can I kick them outside? I have to remember they are only 2.5 weeks old. When I do move them, the outdoor brooder is substantially smaller than their 4x4x4 indoor pen. I may move the pen into the coop and skip the brooder entirely . We spent so much time on the brooder and it is really well thought out. It’s a shame I’m not using it.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Last night was tough. I was awoken at 2am by screaming. I’m afraid of what I’ll see when I open the door. Surely someone is hanging from a leg that is now broken or there is some other catastrophe. They were all streaking around, bashing into walls, crashing into the ceiling, in a panic I have never seen before. As if there was a cobra in their pen. They were going to injure themselves panicking like that.

It seems like one got stuck between two layers of cardboard, then squeezed out unharmed. Two more followed as I watched.

I had to turn the light on to find the escapees, but that only revved up everyone more. Escapees returned, overhead light turned off, everyone settled back down quickly. But it took me an hour to stop laying in bed holding my breath listening, afraid I missed one escapee.

I’m afraid I have to tear down the pen and start over. There are too many holes for their level of activity and flight now. And there aren’t very many holes! Probably need to line it with bird netting floor to ceiling and cardboard around the lower half.

When can I kick them outside? I have to remember they are only 2.5 weeks old. When I do move them, the outdoor brooder is substantially smaller than their 4x4x4 indoor pen. I may move the pen into the coop and skip the brooder entirely . We spent so much time on the brooder and it is really well thought out. It’s a shame I’m not using it.

Oh wow Bicoastal - so stressful!!! Could you move them out to your brooder now instead of modifying your indoor space? And how sweet is it that you’re helping to foster that bunny? We just found a possum mom dead on the road, covered in babies. We brought the babies in and placed in a box on a heating pad. Fortunately a wildlife rehabber was able to take them the next day.

 

[Bicoastal]

Could you move them out to your brooder now instead of modifying your indoor space? And how sweet is it that you’re helping to foster that bunny?

Too late. I have redone the pen yet again. Hopefully this time is the last time and it can be moved outside exactly like this.

Forecast is not great for end of next weekend. 60s. Think that’s ok? The weekend after looks better, but I don’t know if I can take two more weeks in the house.

In the raising chicks subforum, people recommend acclimating them by putting them outside for an hour, then two, etc. Removing heat during the day, drop the temp more, etc. What do I need to be doing this week to prepare them for going outside this weekend? They are averaging 80 degrees with lamp at 50% and they will use the plate if they have to.

Is putting them outside in a dog crate a no-no this year because of avian flu? I could put them in a crate in the coop for an hour, but there’s no direct sun or grass.

So glad you were able to find a rehabber! I could an opossum or ten for my tick infestation.

 

[Bicoastal]

Most of them will cram under the heat plate if they really get cold, I guess. It’s a rare sight but now I know they *will* use it.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Too late. I have redone the pen yet again. Hopefully this time is the last time and it can be moved outside exactly like this.

Forecast is not great for end of next weekend. 60s. Think that’s ok? The weekend after looks better, but I don’t know if I can take two more weeks in the house.

In the raising chicks subforum, people recommend acclimating them by putting them outside for an hour, then two, etc. Removing heat during the day, drop the temp more, etc. What do I need to be doing this week to prepare them for going outside this weekend? They are averaging 80 degrees with lamp at 50% and they will use the plate if they have to.

Is putting them outside in a dog crate a no-no this year because of avian flu? I could put them in a crate in the coop for an hour, but there’s no direct sun or grass.

So glad you were able to find a rehabber! I could an opossum or ten for my tick infestation.

Looks like your freezing temps are done at least! Are you planning on using both the lamp and plate outside or only the plate? Is the area going to be drafty? Insulated?