More questions! :0

[FarmerGirl]

I have my chicks in a homemade brooder (aka a wading pool) and i was putting down wood shavings, but they got wet from our waterers and these chicks poop A LOT. So it was a pain to empty all those shavings out and then start all over just to clean it out the next day. Are you really supposed to clean the brooder each day or am I overdoing it? Cuz it's filthy if I don't clean it daily but what to do!

What's a simple way to take care of brooder cleanliness? I'm trying newspaper now but even that gets filthy in a hurry.

And they have plenty of food yet I saw a few chicks stealing food from their brothers! What's going on?

When can we get rid of the brooder light altogether? I want to move them into their permanent home.

They are only about 4 days old and I see some white feathers coming in - isn't it too early to get their pinfeathers?

 

[speckledhen]

First, don't empty the shavings every day, just stir them up and let the poop fall to the bottom. You may not have to remove them at all if you occasionally scoop a little out and add some fresh to freshen it up. Newspaper gets too slippery and can cause leg problems.
They will take food from each other. You cant do anything about it. They're babies.
They need heat till they're about a month old, reduce it by 5 degrees every week till it's the temp of the air outside. And they get feathers right away, so they're right on schedule.

 

[MillyMollyMandy]

I don't know what a 'wading pool' is but can you put a roof on it to stop the water getting on the bedding ?

Keep the bedding clean as best you can, you don't want flies etc.

As for the food, the grass is always greener on the other side - chickens are just naturally curious. But at that age be sure they are just fed chick crumbs.

My broody hen stayed on her chicks till they were 8 weeks old, they wanted her body warmth longer - but she divorced them and went back to the main coup. But I don't know what temperature location you are in.

The feathering is normal, isn't it amazing how fast they grow!

 

[GoodEgg]

Do you have your waterer up off the floor? I had to put mine on a half-block of concrete and they climbed up there to drink. It kept the shavings dry and the water clean.

And when they got big enough to jump on top and knock it over, of course that made a mess too.

Guess I'm wondering what kind of waterer you have? The poo will dry, but if the water soaks the litter it can become nasty, even if you have a lot of litter. Deeper litter will absorb the mess better, but even deep litter sours with a lot of dumped water, so if it's the waterer making the mess, you want to make whatever changes needed to stop the mess.

Oh, and you're going to need a cover for that wading pool sooner than you think.

trish

 

[GoodEgg]

Oh, yeah, and I discovered (I'm not an expert ... these are the first chicks I've had since I was a kid, and mine are 7 week now) .... but as I discovered, food stealing is a sport for chicks.

The one being chased wants to be chased more than he actually wants to eat the food, I think. It can be funny, really. Even though it looks like mayhem. I wondered too when mine did it.

But they are ok. Just enjoy watching them. (And I always make sure to have more than enough for everyone, although it takes them a long time to eat it because playing is more important to them.)

If you have a video camera, you might enjoy those videos later. You might even win money from a funny video show, lol.

trish

 

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, I raise my chicks in a wading pool for about the first 2 weeks and they get kicked to the outside brooder once they have their feet. They start jumping out at that point too. I have my water up on a concrete block and put about an inch of shavings in at the beginning of the two weeks and don't ever change it till they move out.

 

[GoodEgg]

I just put mine in the coop (it was later than I wanted, the coop took a LONG time to finish!) at 7 weeks. I changed the bedding only twice in that time (and it needed it about 3 days before I put them outside), so it would have been 3 changes in 7 weeks.

I originally planned to put mine in a wading pool because of a cool setup I saw someone had on here (sorry I can't remember who, it might have been you silkie

). But I'm glad I didn't. I had NO IDEA they would be jumping so high from such an early age, and I couldn't have had the coop ready soon enough.

My brooder was made from boxes that shipped filing cabinets, and was a little over 2 feet high. In no time they were hopping up onto the edge every time I took the cover off.

trish