No chick feed?!?!

[3riverschick]

Do you have any feed stores or Tractor Supply or anything near you that you can go to tomorrow?

 

[okie-chick93]

Do you have any feed stores or Tractor Supply or anything near you that you can go to tomorrow?

There's a mill store here in town and an atwoods and tractor supply 30 mins from here. I bought some Pedialyte and put some in the water and they have perked up some. One chick has been kinda sneezing along with the stuffed up snotty nose.... But they still seem sluggish. Just not as much. Whatever I need to do I will.

 

[aart]

Quote: You don't want the whole room too warm...just a spot big enough for the number of chicks.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[okie-chick93]

You don't want the whole room too warm...just a spot big enough for the number of chicks.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.



Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY:  https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

Thanks for all the info! I only keep the vents closed because it's a small room and gets pretty darn cold real fast. I'm pretty new to chickens and appreciate all the info I can get! The electrolytes seemed to help a lot. They perked up but they the 2 still have snotty noses

 

[aart]

Just to be sure....room gets cold because house heat vents are closed?
How cold is 'cold'?
As long as they have a warm spot under lamp, a cold room temp is fine, good even.