Neurotic new mom syndrome

[papschmitty]

I am buying 4 RIR chicks from a local farm that are due to hatch this weekend. This is will be my first chicken adventure so I'm feeling a bit nervous. We were planning on brooding them in a plastic tub in our guest bathroom but DH read about how stinky and messy they can be so suddenly we're going to try brooding outside. On Sunday, he used scraps to build a cool brooder with a plexiglass window and put in on our porch, pushed right up against our living room window. We'll be able to watch chick TV!

We're still trying keep the temp up. We live outside of Seattle - last night was fairly cold and the brooder stayed at about 85 degrees so we may end up indoors for the few few weeks anyway.

Last night I had a dream that as soon as I got home with our new baby chicks, DH was leaving to go out of town. As he drove away, a weasel got into the brooder and ate on of my chicks. I gave the weasel the Heimlich maneuver, rescuing the baby chick from his stomach, and resuscitated it. Can you tell that I'm a nurse in real life?

As soon as I finished dressing the chick's wounds, the brooder collapsed and the other babies got out. The weasel and I were racing to see who could get to the chicks first. I woke up feeling like a terrible chicken mother.

I have two brooder options, bedding, locally sourced organic chick feed, a feeder and waterer, and my trusted Raising Chickens for Dummies handbook (which I'm currently rereading). What am I forgetting? Is there anything else I can do to helping stop fretting about accidentally killing some innocent little chicks?

 

[whasittoya]

I totally sympathize, the night before I got my babies I was freaking out too.
You seem to be well prepared, my only suggestion would be if you are worried about the temperature you can start them inside- give them a week or so indoors and then transition them outdoors. Also, I keep the liter pretty clean and the smell is not to bad.

 

[AnaD]

I keep hearing about the dust and smell of brooding chicks in the home, but I just don't have that problem. The house doesn't smell and other than a few woodchips outside the brooding box we don't have much of a mess....Inside the brooding boxs is a different story:/. But it must be true if so many people have an issues with it. The noise on the other hand is very noticeable. Wowie are they loud.

 

[gryeyes]

There is remarkably little odor when you use pine shavings, and practive deep litter measures even in the brooder box. Toss a small bit over wet poops, add another couple hands full every week, and it dries it out and doesn't smell. Dust, on the other hand, comes from feather dander and chick fuzz and shedding feathers and all that. That's just a fact with chickens.

I hatch chicks, now, and when the incubator is in lockdown the last 3 days before those eggs hatch, the anxiety is just as palpable for me as i suspect your anticipation and concern is for your chicks coming.

You're not alone!

 

[aubreynoramarie]

yeah i used pine shavings and never noticed a smell. especially with that few chicks that are that young. very little amount of poop. Id leave em inside for at least a few weeks, its really not bad at all

 

[Heckel's Hens]

Never had any oder...used pine shavings. The dust, however, was quite out of control. They stayed in my house for 5 days and then they were booted to the garage.

 

[AnaD]

Right! I do have a bit of fluff around the brooder. Pine shaving rule.

 

[turkeymom]

Another option for the first few days is to just use paper towels (lots) and no shavings. I found the shavings created more of a mess than the chicks themselves. With only 4 chicks, that would be a really good option, plus then you can watch them more. I made my DH let me put our chicks in the kitchen, b/c that's where I spend my time and I want to be able to see them as much as possible. Eventually, I'll move them to the kids' playroom where they'll be out of the way, but for now I love having them where I can see them.

And in case it makes you feel better, I dreamed about my chicks for the 3 days before they came and then could not sleep the night before they arrived. I was even like 'I bet they're hatching right now' - lol!

 

[bypack]

I have 7 cages of Seramas stacked 3 deep in my bathroom.
I change the pine shavings and vacuum weekly.
Also, I have an air purifier that helps a lot with the dust.
They will be moved to the back poarch in March and
I hope to have a breeding house by April.
One step at a time... I so love all the friendly little birds.
I have a Roo that wants to visit with me every day.
I give him a good petting and waddle rub.

 

[KimM]

Agree- we had 12 brooding right in our family room and there was very little smell. I did clean/put down new bedding at least once a day. Keeping inside makes
And I had dreams like that before our chicks came too.