Hey I am Lanecoop! This looks to be a really neat site. I just got some chicks on Monday March 3, 2014! Two comets and two Rhode Island Reds They are so cute and peeping a good bit. I have them in a tote with dirt in the bottom and a heat lamp on them all the time right now. I am wanting to build a good coop and run for them very soon hopefully with the help of my husband and my 20 year old. So it can be a family thing.I am so exicited see!
If they are peeping a lot they may either be too hot or too cold. How old are they, and what is the temperature under the lamp - at the floor of the brooder. If they sleep apart they may be too warm, if they sleep all bunched up on each other - they are too cold. Heat lamp should just be over half of the brooder, so the chicks can escape to the other side if too hot. If they spill their water the dirt will become mud. They would be cleaner with pine shavings as their litter.
Thanks drumstick diva for the good info. I am kind of short on income so is the dirt fine until I get some more money. Sometimes they are together and somtimes they are apart. I have not got a temperature of the heat lamp yet. They are in the house and i have kept the house a little warmer since i got them. I think feb. 20 was when they were born.
I agree with Drumstick Diva. They shouldn't be peeping too much. That means they need something. You don't want them to pile on each other, (too cold) or be sleeping along the edges (too hot). You want them to be mingling around all over the place and when it is time for a nap, to just snuggle together near the heat. Keep the heat off to one side, the food and water on the other side, so they have to leave the heat to get to the goods. Toughens them up. Keep a thermometer on the floor directly beneath the heat source. Newly hatched babies start at 95 degrees and the temp is lowered by 5 degrees each week for 6 weeks. Make sure you have a good thermomter that is reading correctly. I am not sure about the dirt. Dirt can have lots of bacteria, cocci cysts, virus's, worms, etc...If you don't have pine shaving, grass hay or straw, you can use shredded newspaper, I always raise my babies on hardware cloth. Start with 1/4 inch and at 2 or 3 weeks move up to 1/2 inch. Poop falls thru to the bottom of the brooder and there is no bedding to deal with. Just clean off the wire regularly. Wire is extremely sanitary and helps to prevent cocci while still giving them the opportunity to be come immune to it. Good luck with your babies and enjoy BYC!
Hello and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on your new chicks! drumstick diva and TwoCrows gave you some good advice above. With just four chicks, you could also just use paper towels or regular towels in the brooder (make sure there are no loose thread if using cloth) a lot of people use that the first few days before putting in shavings anyhow. If you don't have a thermometer you need to see how the chicks act to figure out if they are too hot or two cold, check out the BYC Learning Center articles on brooders, ie https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-your-baby-chicks
