New to chickens & I went all out

[4-H chicken mom]

Ditto here on the red heat lamp. Just lay a therometer on the floor of your brooder, hang light above it. Raise or lower light as needed to achive the needed temp. If the chicks are piling on top of one another, they are cold. If they are spread out away from the light, they are too warm. Just let the chicks tell you what they need. Good luck.

 

[FortWorthChicks]

I know its been said but if they start pecking at eachother switch to the red light.

Also make sure they have a covered area of the brooder/shade/darker... a play area or just somewhere to run to get away from the light.

Congrats on the chicks!

Are these mixed male/female?

 

[JulieZ]

I will be watching the light, pecking, "picking" & may go ahead & keep the red light verses the regular.

I have no idea on the girl / boy happenings. I hope one is a girl because my 20 year old named him/her "Imperial".

We have watched Brown "Leghorn" sit on the stick I placed into the bin, lift his head, open his mouth and nothing comes out. Nope, he's not taking a potty either. Makes me wonder what is going on but from all other posts it may be too soon to tell? And "Sickly" seriously has the look of a 6-7 week old roo. I'm in the process of uploading photo's & walking out the door for that thermo. All these babies have me going in circles. I love it.

QUESTION:
How long should I keep the babies in their brooder? I read some place that they should stay indoors for the 1st 60 days. Is this true? THIS is info I found out AFTER I bought home the babies so I have some serious planning to do if this is true.

Julie

 

[Crazyland]

LOL This is my first to and I went over board. I only wanted 4 that was our target number of HENS and somehow... I have 19 straight run plus 2 quail.
I just have one 250w bulb in each brooder. I have 2 since I went back to the breeder for more. They are 10 days apart.
I used a XL wire dog crate as their brooder and use a sheet as extra around the edge against the wall. I also have a space heater in this room to make sure it stays a constant temp. Talk about nuts huh? lol
The chicks can't make up their minds either. The older ones are just now starting to lay under the heat lamp. Don't know why. I haven't changed anything for them. The little ones scatter all over their cage.
So yeah, lots of fun trying to figure them out!
You are going to have so much fun. Don't forget pictures of their first treats and Pictures of them playing with toys too!

 

[Happy Chooks]

They should be in their brooder for at least 6 weeks, until they feather out. Then you can start acclimating them slowly to lower temps, until they are ready to go outside.

ETA: Congrats and

 

[felidaet]

I was new to chickens last year. We are thinking about getting 10 -12. We ended up with 18. One turned out to be a rooster and we rehomed him at about 16 weeks. The other 17 were pullets. A couple of weeks ago we sold a couple of the pullets we did not care for. Last year we said that this would be plenty for a couple of years.

.

Funny how things change... A couple of months ago my daughters told us that we could move their outdoor playhouse next to the run and convert it to a second coop.

We are now going to buy 25 more chicks in early April.

 

[crazyhen]

I did things a bit different. I used a white light during the day and a red one at night. It worked great. They would get quiet at night and sleep great. I did use a thermometer in the bottom of the brooder for temp. I used a large refrigerator card board box. I used the puppy pee pads in the bottom. It is so much easier to clean up and less odor. I had 8 in there and by three weeks there was not really enough room. So think ahead for the chicks. More room equals happier, healthier chicks. If you have a good warm coop they can go in there earlier than 6 weeks. But it has to not have drafts and be warm where they are. Pecking can be a big problem if you do not have plenty of space for them. Brahmas are beautiful hens but quite large. Again space is important. Enjoy your new babies they grow so fast. Gloria Jean

 

[JulieZ]

Crazyhen ... thank you. This is need to know advice. Right now I know my babies are fine in the large containers but as time goes on, I'm not sure what to place them in as I'm unsure of what their height will be like. I will look for some postings and hopefully rough measurements will be included. That would greatly help through out their stages.

I used the red bulb all night, got up three times to check temps and not once was there a problem. I get up this morning and although the temps read correct, they are all moved away & sleeping in some shade. They have never done this before. All I did was add the thermometer.

QUESTION:
Is there a specific kind of thermometer someone could suggest? I bought cheap ones with the mercury bulb at the bottom because that was all they had. I'm going today to buy quicker & easier. I placed therm in the bin and waited for it to be complete, then removed. Was worried too much pecking could burst the bulb.

Thanks everyone for help, suggestions and my questions. I have so much to learn.
Julie

 

[Chieftain]

Welcome aboard Julie, and I'm right there with ya! We are starting our first brood too, and it is fascinating, and rewarding. Ain't it a lot of fun to figure a project like this out, and see it come to fruition??

It sounds to me like you're off to a grand start, and if you just pay attention to what the chooks behavior is telling you, and keep them clean, you likely won't go wrong.

One more thing, if you haven't already bought one, go to Amazon and pick up a copy of "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow. I cannot recommend that book enough, and it is an excellent primer on all the different aspects of raising a flock and makes for excellent reading.

Cheers!