Oh, no - what did I get myself into?

[ChristinaMae]

My chicken guy called me today - told me that he had my meaties (cornish x) in and ready for us to come pickup. I wasn't expecting them until the end of the month! I thought I had plenty of time to prepare! I am not ready for this!! lol - ok, enough of the melodramatic. Seriously, though, I've never done this before and I have no clue what I'm doing. I have 30 nuggets to pick up tonight, can you guys help me get prepared for them?

1. How long to brood them indoors? Eventually they will be going outside in a chicken tractor. Current outside temps are highs of mid to high 40's and lows of mid to high 30's - next week should be highs of upper 40's, lower 50's, lows of upper 30's, lower 40's.

2. How big of a brooder do I need for 30 chickens?

3. Medicated chick feed ok to start? It's what I have on hand. This is 24hrs/day for 2wks, or is it 4? Then 12 on/12 off? Also, I haven't yet been able to locate a higher-protien unmedicated feed. I've heard gamebird feed is ok for turkeys, how about chickens?

4. How big of a feeder for 30 chicks? Would one of those trough-style feeders work? How big of a waterer? I'll make a pvc feeder and a bucket waterer when they go outside, but I'm not sure what to start them out with in the brooder.

I know it shouldn't be this difficult, but I thought I had a month - or at least a few weeks - to prepare. I've been working backwards in my learning - I know what to do when they get bigger, haha. I figured, I've had baby chicks before, this won't be hard. Um, yea.

I really appreciate the help, guys.

 

[Dogfish]

I'm just down the road from you, west of Olympia.

1. Mine are 3 weeks and they wil likely never see the light of day. At 5 weeks, the laying hens will move to the coop and the cornish will have full run of a 4x4x16" high brooder. You can move them outside, but these are for meat and I don't want to take any predator losses.

2. For yours a simple sheet of 4x8 plywood or OSB would be a decent bottom. Buy one more sheet and rip it lengthwise into 16"x8' strips. Two of these are your sides and the third gets cut in half and makes your ends. Buy five 8' 2x2's. Use them to attach the bottom to the sides, the sides to each other in the corners, and as supports under the brooder. Buy five 1x2 firring strips, and use these to make your lid. You can easily add partitions to keep them in half of the brooder and give them access to more room as they get bigger. To make the one I describe above would take me an hour to put together, if that. Mine is below.

3. I started mine on medicated feed, plus vitamins, and at 3 weeks I switched them to plain water and Flock raiser (unmedicated). Seems to be working so far. Other folks will have fifferent opinions on feed and feeding schedules.

4. 10 chicks empty a quart feeder 2x daily, but there is little waste. For tha many birds I'd go with a multi station galv trough, or two. Put it in the center of the brooder. 10 chicks empty two quart waterers 2x daily, that's a gallon a day. I'm making a watering system tonight for them, as they knock the waterers over. They are brutes.

Hope this helps.

 

[ChristinaMae]

Ah, thank you! That is a *huge* help.

 

[Dennis A]

A mistake I just made in cold temps in Iowa. I had plenty of heat for 144 chicks, but after a week they grew to big to all get under the lamps and I lost some to smothering on a 20 deg night. Would normaly do about 40 chicks so the larger volume is a learning curve.
How can they eat 2Lbs gain 1Lb and crap 3Lbs?
Dennis

 

[Buster52]

Since you are in a rush...

If you can grab a big cardboard furniture or appliance box, that will work fine for a short term brooder for 30 chicks. Before we built our brooder. we used one of these and suspended the brooder light from a 2x2 that we just ran across the top of it.

 

[schmism]

my 28 nuggets found there way out to my 5x8 coupe at about week 2. previous to that they were in a 3x5' brooder.

between week 3 and 4 every day id stir up bedding, remove one scoop of the worst beding and replace with fresh.

at week 4 they are out on the pasture pen with daily moves.

 

[schmism]

Quote:
by drinking 20lbs of water in the same time