Need help asap

[Mandy0922]

Idk how old they are but here's a pic

 

[Mandy0922]

And here's the coop they were in

 

[Mandy0922]

And here's the coop they were in

The red part has an open floor on it I kept telling everyone it needed to be covered with all the wacky weather we've been having here. We're in North Carolina and it's been up and down with the temperature for months. Any ways I told my family the bottom needed to be sealed but they thought it was fine

 

[bruceha2000]

With that feathering I'd guess they are pushing 1 week of age.

No chicken of any age should be sleeping with a draft blowing over them (well maybe in very hot climates) and certainly not up from below on little chicks. Ventilation is paramount but it has to be air exchange not wind.

I raised my first chicks in the bathtub with a heat lamp. Boy was it hot in there. Now I raise them in a corner of the coop (which is a converted stall in an old barn) using the Mama Heating Pad method linked by @Shezadandy. Get a solid floor in that coop, put pine shavings on it and put in a MHP cave.

Unfortunately your family is not experienced in raising chickens or they wouldn't think the current situation is "fine". If the coop wasn't built with one, I suggest modifying it with a slide out poop tray. Easy to clean. Poop isn't going to neatly fall through the holes in a wire floor, it will get stuck and build up. Maybe not so much with chicks the age of yours but it will as they get older. Then you have chickens walking in poop. Some people put sand in their poop trays and scoop daily like they would a cat litter box.

Also, I suggest you get some sort of gutter to catch water running off the coop roof or you will have a very muddy run.

 

[Mandy0922]

Thank you so much for all of your advice. I know they're at least 2 or 3 weeks old cause that's how long ago the store I bought them from got them. By the way how old do they have to be to be able to start giving them little treats like yellow meal worms

 

[ChattyChickens4Life]

I wouldn't give any treats until they are older. If you do, make sure to give them grit. Everyone above gave great advice that I agree with. Those chicks are way too young to be outside - they need to be inside with bedding and a heat lamp. I agree, you do need to cover the wire in the coop. Not only will it cause drafts, but it can also cut up your chickens feet and cause infections like bumble foot. Chickens are messy, and a big part of keeping them is poop scooping. If that's not something you are willing to do daily, maybe chickens aren't right for you. Good luck!

 

[PirateGirl]

Idk how old they are but here's a pic

That blue plastic bin in the photo they are in will work fine for now! Once they have all their adult looking feathers instead of just the fuzz/fluff they are much better at regulating their temperature. You are right, them shivering is a sign that they are cold, so is huddling together, or standing on one leg. Lot's of people use coops with wire floors, so it is certainly something that can work for you once the chicks are a bit older. If you set up a heating pad or lamp shining on just one end of the bin they are in it will provide them a warm zone and a cold zone and they will go back and forth as they need it. I agree that with the others that you might want to keep them indoors where the wind can't get to them until they have more adult feathers. They grow up fast, and where you live, with your weather, they should be able to move outdoors soon!

 

[Kat C]

Thank you so much for all of your advice. I know they're at least 2 or 3 weeks old cause that's how long ago the store I bought them from got them. By the way how old do they have to be to be able to start giving them little treats like yellow meal worms

Our baby chicks (raised with mommas) start eating bugs and worms in a few days after birth. Insects are not treats, they are normal chicken food. Because meal worms might be pricey we might think of them as treats but they are high quality food. We cook up some eggs for our chicks. They seem like treats the way they eat them, but in fact egg is what chicks are made of and the yolk is absorbed just before birth into their belly and feeds them for the first few days of life. So feeding them egg is just continuing that excellent nutrition. The only danger is that they could get so acclimated to those food that they wouldn't want to eat the less nutritious but less expensive food we would prefer to feed them.

 

[Kat C]

I hate the idea of any chicken being raised on a wire floor. Chickens scratch, its their program to find food. They love to scratch even if they are not finding much and also to turn up dirt for dirt baths which help control feather parasites. I have seen 1 week old chickens taking dirt baths with gusto. If you feel you need a wire bottom to prevent predators, build up some dirt on top of the wire.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think someone recommended the wire floor to rid the coop of feces but I'm not a big fan. Birds raised on wire and no outdoor access won't get worms or coccidiosis but that isn't really natural. Scratching and dust bathing is the good thing about having chickens outdoors.