"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[WhoDatChick]

All great information…thanks.

If I have river silt- basically sand for my coop and run floor, do I need to provide grit?

@WhoDatChick
Hate to hear that about your Buff. Have you had Buffs before? I heard they are not heat tolerant at all, mostly because of their big size but they are great mother hens. They take good care of incoming chicks and protect them from the older hens when integrating into the flock.

Thank you!
I have had her for five years. But don’t think I’ll get any more of them. They are broody too often!
I don’t know if you know this but poop does not break down well in sand.. I know some people love it but I would recommend the ground and add un dyed bark…

 

[Ragfrey]

My brooder set up.

 

[Ragfrey]

The first 6 chicks are here:

 

[Ragfrey]

They are handling the heat okay right now at 6:00pm.

Will be interesting to see if they can handle mid day 100+.

Thoughts?

 

[jus10inla]

As said before mine hit outdoors at day one. In my batch of 14 (10 hatched & raised by mom 4 bought / co raised by several broodies) they are now about 5-6 wks old. I lost 2; one by fowl pox, which came from the infestation of black flies. And the other either got dehydrated or just couldnt handle the heat. My recommendation dont use a heat lamp. even at 75-80° inside, they will huddle if need be. If ur dead set on heat, get the plate and angle it at one end so they can get in and out as they choose. BUT KEEP PLENTY WATER & SHADE ON THEM.

 

[jus10inla]

Idk if we had discussed earlier, but dont feed into the BS of a chick starter crumbles til 16/ 18 wks. Buy the 10 lb chick starter, after it’s used up swap to an all flock mini pellet 20-22% protein And mix in chick grit. The crumbles is dust. They can process mini pellets easily by 1 month old.

 

[alwaystj9]

Good luck with them! If they huddle, they are cold. But the current Louisiana temps are just right for baby chicks, they need to be around 90-95 deg their first week. Make sure they have good access to shade & water. Best wishes for you & your new chicks!

 

[Ragfrey]

Everything is going great!
Tbh…The first 6 hrs was not so good. The black chick with silver stripes had a hard time- unsteady, falling over and just looked bad. So I hand fed her for a while with a syringe and she livened up after about 3hrs. That’s my little buddy there. Everytime I go out to check or change water, she comes running to me peeping.

The little blue white chick was also wobbly but she came around as well as the other two black chicks.

The brown chicks are going nuts, just all over the place with confidence.

I read on internet that it’s not good to continue on giving electrolytes so last night, after reading, I bolted outside and changed to water.

The heating pad cave is doing wonderful. They go in there for about an hour and then come out eat, drink and play and then go back in there to sleep.

Temp during the day:
85dg @ 0830 heat index 95
95dg @ midday heat index 105
91dg @ 2100hrs heat index ?

I am surprised and very pleased they are handling this heat so well. They are some pooping machines!! Change puppy pads at least 3x day.

I think I will add some small blocks or something to give them some play objects.

I am actually kinda glad I only received 6. It’s just enough for a new timer to handle and it’s not overwhelming. I should have the run built (the coop is finished) by the time the next 5 come and I will be more experienced. I have 1/4 of the top and on side left to hardware cloth. It is difficult doing the run by myself- screwing in the mesh with my right hand while bracing a screw driver to pull tight with my left elbow. It prob takes me 8 tries to get in one screw haha but little by little I am making progress.

 

[jus10inla]

This time next year u will have 25 and wont be running out every 5 min to check on them lol. And probably buy a camera to watch the coop

 

[jus10inla]

GEEEZZZZ we need an Atwoods down here

Im trying to talk the guy in purchasing at TSC to order some higher protein pellets when the new one gets completed in central next month