New chics

[Captain13]

Went to the hatchery today and picked up my new Novagen chics. Put them in the brooder, they ate, drank and went under the heater plate, warmed up good and are now drifting out a few at the time to drink and eat some more. I was going to go with the heat lamp but am going to see how they do with just the plate today. They really like the heater plate and so do I. Don’t worry, the wires are not in the brooder as it looks in the pic. It’s going to be 27 and windy tonight so they are inside the house instead of the barn

 

[Gigachad poultry]

good that they are moving around. Sometimes they are in a room that is cold or has a draft and won't leave the heater plate to do normal things. You'r setup sounds good.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

That's a nice setup and it's cool how it looks like you can collect fallen food. That's really smart.

 

[Captain13]

That's a nice setup and it's cool how it looks like you can collect fallen food. That's really smart.

Works good. Keeps them from kicking bedding in their water. The water is back on the grid now and is staying clean.

Chics are moving around good. They dive under the heater plate after they mess around for about 30 minutes. They are being quiet so I think they are transitioning well.

 

[Captain13]

I had an interesting discovery yesterday. We had a cold front come through. The chicks are doing great, by the way. With the cold front, I decided to try something different. I have a vet pad that is used for dogs, cats, etc to keep them warm. It;s made of hard plastic and the temp stays at roughly 95 degrees. I put it in my small temporary brooder and covered it with bedding. Last night, I went in to check on the chicks and in the the dim light, I made out that two were out from under the brooder plate, laying down on their bellies. I thought I had lost two chicks. When I moved the brooder top, they both looked up at me, stood up, and went under the brooder heat plate. This morning, there were four that had scratched the bedding away, and laying on the vet heater. They seem to really like that thing. I put it in just to keep the brooder floor warm and they are now using it to nap on.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Great that the chicks like it and are doing well. Baby chicks or small poultry in gerneral love to stretch and lay on warm things, quail as well. I hatched 7 coturnix quail from supermarket eggs and they would always scare me, because they would lay on there sides eyes closed. Now they roam my big aviary and do that in the mourning sun. It's kinda funny.