Our 4 chicks have arrived! um, now what?

[calicokat]

Our chicks are here! Our chicks are here!

This is our first foray into chicks -- we ordered through the 4H club 4 bantum chicks (pot luck on variety). They came to the leader's house Tuesday, and we found out last night (sheesh, missed 3 days of cuddling and bonding already,

But they were going to have a meeting/instruction on the care of baby chicks -- and never did. So here's my big question: can I put them in their rubbermaid tote/brooder with light and cage wire "lid" (to keep the big girls out) out in our chicken coop? DH is NOT happy when I mentioned that they would be going in DD11's room. And I have read that after a week or two they generate an awful lot of dust, and we have a DD 14 with asthma.

It's been in the low teens here overnight, and I don't have any extra lighting/heat in the coop.

What woud you reccomend?

 

[Uzuri]

DEFINITELY not out in the coop yet without heat. They need to be at 95 degrees to start.

A week in DD's room won't hurt anyone and will give you time to regroup and get something more permanent

Here are all the basics in a nutshell: https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-first60days.html

 

[calicokat]

Great info, and thank you! So if they stay in her room for a few weeks, will 4 generate an unbearable amount of dust? If we change bedding everyday will that help?

 

[Uzuri]

I didn't really notice dust problems until my 7 standards had been in the garage for about 3 weeks -- there was some on the light, but it didn't start coating the truck and showing up in the far corners until they were about 5 weeks and turned into little flailing psychopaths

I suspect changing the bedding will help -- and will be necessary to keep the smell down anyway, just like with a hamster or anything like that. A big thing to do is to avoid bedding that adds its own dust to the picture. Normally I'm a big fan of compressed wood pellets, but they are EXTREMELY dusty, so I'd suggest that in your situation you avoid them. They can be on paper towels at first -- mine were for a whole week before they started trying to eat them -- and that makes cleanup very easy. Dust down the top of the brooder, flat surfaces in the room, etc to keep what's landed from going back up in the air -- if they can be contained under a desk or table, that'll help keep the dust settling out rather than flying around in the air, too.

There will be dust, but it's not going to be anything you can't handle. If it seems too much, you might consider a bathroom, mud room, or basement -- but I think the advantages to having them close at hand during the cute stage very much outweighs the disadvantages!

 

[Keri78]

I keep my babies in a rubbermaid tote with some hay for bedding. I add a little fresh hay every day and at the end of the week dump the whole thing out and rinse it and start with fresh hay again. YES!...they absolutely need to be under a heat lamp and kept at 95degrees. If they are cold they will huddle together if they are hot they will scatter and try to get away from the heat. This alone will make you a nervous nell for the next several days!!!

I give mine powdered vitamins from the tractor supply and add it to their water for the first few weeks.(follow the directions on the package) Ummm..they will grow fast and try to get out of the tote so you will need to add a cover to it. I used a piece of screen and then just set the heat lamp on top. You could prob use a piece of chicken wire. Oh...you may want to make sure that none of them get a clogged vent(aka:too much poop and it clogs their little chickie butt!LOL) If this happens(it does every so often) all you need to do is take a warm washcloth and get the poop off. It may take a couple feathers with it when it comes off but they'll be ok. Oh, yeah....HAVE FUN!!! CONGRATS!!!! WELCOME ABOARD!!!

PS. How about the bathroom? Or I've heard people use an extra closet in their home???

 

[M To The Maxx]

 

[kristen2678]

It's the bedding change that will create the "cloud" of dust. When ours were in the brooder I spot cleaned the poop several times a day and then topped off the shavings every few days to freshen things up. We only did a complete change once a week or so. This caused some dust. Our little light brahma would sneeze every time. The spot cleaning worked well. Kept us nearly smell free until they went outside.

 

[MissAnnieFrannie]

Quote:
agreed! where are the fluffy butt pics!?! we must see your adorable new additions

 

[calicokat]

Well I'm at work and don't get to actually pick them up from 4H lady until tonight. I kinda wanted to follow her home from the meeting last night and get them, but I was pretty sure I would look like a TOTAL crazy chicken lady. So far they only think I'm sorta crazy because I yelped for glee when she stood up and said "the Chicks got here Tuesday" -- yeah, DD wasn't real thrilled with me

Pics tomorrow for sure!

 

[dovecanyon]

Keep them on paper towels for the first week. After that add a little fresh litter every other day or so, on top of the old. When you do want to completely change out the litter, pop the chicks into an empty box and take the brooder outside to dump the old and put in fresh litter. That will save a lot of dust in the room. Also, putting the brooder under a table or desk helps a lot too, when you take out the brooder to clean it, just wipe out under the table and vaccuum.
About the heat- start them at 85-90 and lower 5' per week until you reach 70'. By then they will be starting to feather out nicely.