My chickens are freaking out!

[chickacorn]

Hello,
So I have 4 four week old chickens that just came in. There are tons of problems with them. First of all, I already have 4 bigger chickens. Practically 4 times their size. I put the little ones with the biggies and one of them is bleeding! It's over now, thanks to a previous post with tons of responses from BYC. But I do not want a repeat of that. We only have one chicken house and I REALLY want them to get along. Now for the next one, which is my main concern. My baby chicks FREAK OUT at night time. Like they chirp like there is no tomorrow. Is it because it is too dark?? We put them in the garage with a heat lamp bc we don't want the biggies to peck at them. We turn off the light so is it because of that that they're chirping so loudly? I don't know what to do! Please help!

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

How big is your brooder box, and how warm is it when the lights off? My guess is they're cold. At a week old I believe they still need it to be 80-90* F

 

[rosemarythyme]

They're likely upset because they're used to having light at night. No need to provide a light on at night. Assuming they're weaned off heat (not really sure from your description), just shut it off, shut the door and let them cry. They'll get over it in a couple of days.

 

[DanielleGut]

They chirp if they are cold. Mine did this too until I corrected the temp.

 

[Shezadandy]

If they were raised under a heat lamp, they've never been in the dark before. You can help them along a little by simulating the sun setting - direct light, then a second indirect light, then a light from a hallway, then lights out. Or just move a lamp farther away from their night time brooder over the course of an hour or so.

Not sure where you're at and what your weather is, but you can provide an alternate heat source and ditch the heat lamp - as simple as a rock that's been sitting in the sun all day (make sure it's not scorching hot when you put it in). Given that this is July and they're 4 weeks old, my guess is they're freaking out about the light. Make sure they're not piling themselves into a corner and suffocating anyone (thus the gradual light removal).

 

[chickacorn]

How big is your brooder box, and how warm is it when the lights off? My guess is they're cold. At a week old I believe they still need it to be 80-90* F

We have a heat panel that doesn't provide light, only heat. Maybe they're too cold but I'm not completely sure.

 

[chickacorn]

They chirp if they are cold. Mine did this too until I corrected the temp.

ok, thank you very much for your reply!

 

[chickacorn]

If they were raised under a heat lamp, they've never been in the dark before. You can help them along a little by simulating the sun setting - direct light, then a second indirect light, then a light from a hallway, then lights out. Or just move a lamp farther away from their night time brooder over the course of an hour or so.

Not sure where you're at and what your weather is, but you can provide an alternate heat source and ditch the heat lamp - as simple as a rock that's been sitting in the sun all day (make sure it's not scorching hot when you put it in). Given that this is July and they're 4 weeks old, my guess is they're freaking out about the light. Make sure they're not piling themselves into a corner and suffocating anyone (thus the gradual light removal).

Yes, we started with a heat lamp, and now we've moved to a heat panel. Our chickens spend most of their day in the big chickens' coop so it might be that they're not used to the brooder? I really don't know. Thank you all for your advice.