Picking up 6 chicks Tuesday need help!

[Mychix2018]

We started with a Rubbermaid bin and then upgraded to a baby pool with baby gates around the sides. I found my kids art easel and I hung the lamp from it and looped the cord a few times so it couldn't fall. They are thriving!

Nice!!! Thanks!

 

[Mychix2018]

I put down paper towels then some shavings, and I just use a cat litter scoop and scoop out nasty shavings daily and add more as needed.

Hmmm okay sounds simple enough

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Just put them in the coop with a heat plate if you have no other birds out there, you do have a coop ready right?

Gary

 

[Mychix2018]

Save your money to spend on things that matter: like food, housing. Pick up a large appliance box instead of using a rubbermaid tote. By the time your chicks are 2 - 3 weeks old, they will require at least 2 s.f. per bird. But, even more room will allow them to exercise and stretch those wings. You may think a heat lamp is cheaper. BUT it's a false economy IMO. The heat lamp is on 24/7 and drawing power all that time, unless you turn it off intermittently to aid in weaning them from heat. (which should start after the first week, if you choose that method.)

The heating pad draws much less power over a 24 hour period. It only provides contact heat under the wire "cave" you build to support it. It is less of a fire danger. You can lay your hand on the heat pad, but could not do so with a heat lamp! Every chick season there are threads about injuries caused by heat lamps. Varying from fire, to smoke and almost fire, to chicks getting burned. MHP caves: I can only recall 2 instances with chicks being injured/killed. One was when a chick got up inside a poorly applied pad cover, and once when 2 pads were placed adjacent to each other, resulting in chicks trapped in the middle with no opportunity to escape.

Heating pad cave use results in chicks who are acclimated to natural day/night cycles, they go to bed in the evening and trill themselves to sleep (compared to narcoleptic heat lamp chicks who fall asleep off and on in odd places (may even fall asleep with beak in the water) until they get run over by a few of their flock mates. This goes on 24/7 and they never get a real night's rest. They are constantly sleep deprived. One poster noted that meat birds raised with heat pad were not prone to orthopedic problems in comparison to heat lamp chicks. Heating pad cave chicks are more socially adjusted, wean themselves from heat, and are not terrified of the dark.

@Blooie has 2 excellent articles and a thread devoted to heating pad cave brooding.

Thank you so much!

 

[Mychix2018]

I think a mama heating pad would be less costly.

Finding one that does not shut off on its own is the tricky part.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/

I know it is a long thread but the info on making one is in the first few pages.

Thanks! I’ll look into it!

 

[Mychix2018]

I get a few BIG cardboard boxes, take them apart and duct tape them back together in a big rectangle. Then when I'm done, I can just throw the whole thing away. You could make..I think its called mama heating cave something..using a heating pad.

Just put them in the coop with a heat plate if you have no other birds out there, you do have a coop ready right?

Gary

I have not bought my coop yet I have picked it out should be picking it up in the next two weeks... working with n setting up the brooder for now

 

[rosemarythyme]

Get the coop done as soon as you can, make sure you have time set aside for building it, setting it up, etc. I think one of the big oops first time owners make is thinking they have more time to get the coop set up than they actually have, and then suddenly 6 weeks have passed and the chicks are bouncing off the brooder walls wanting out and yet the coop is only half done.

 

[chickenmeadow]

Woaw!!!! That’s awesome thanks! Where did u hang the lamp? What is it hanging on?

One of my 2 fixtures came with a clamp that I usually clamp right to the clear plastic tote rim, I bought a clamp for my other fixture separately. The pic I posted earlier was set up in a backroom of garage & has some shelves above, so I was able to hang the lamp from a secure/strong hook.

Looks like you have a variety of good posted ideas to get started with. Best wishes.

 

[Mychix2018]

Get the coop done as soon as you can, make sure you have time set aside for building it, setting it up, etc. I think one of the big oops first time owners make is thinking they have more time to get the coop set up than they actually have, and then suddenly 6 weeks have passed and the chicks are bouncing off the brooder walls wanting out and yet the coop is only half done.

Yes I agree I keep reading that as well we are buying one next week and my husband will assemble ... it should be easier and faster since it’s not home made

 

[Mychix2018]

Yes I agree I keep reading that as well we are buying one next week and my husband will assemble ... it should be easier and faster since it’s not home made

One of my 2 fixtures came with a clamp that I usually clamp right to the clear plastic tote rim, I bought a clamp for my other fixture separately. The pic I posted earlier was set up in a backroom of garage & has some shelves above, so I was able to hang the lamp from a secure/strong hook.

Looks like you have a variety of good posted ideas to get started with. Best wishes.

Thanks!