Planning for chicks! I have many questions, and will post pics...

[ILoveDaffy]

Wow, she's very special!

 

[The-White-Elephant]

I've never seen one that looked like her!

Here is another one… also an EE.

The one in my profile pic, her name is Fluffy The Fluffy Head Chick, or Fluffy for short. She’s the yellow one on the left In the chick picture.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Here is another one… also an EE.

The one in my profile pic, her name is Fluffy The Fluffy Head Chick, or Fluffy for short. She’s the yellow one on the left In the chick picture.

The black one is also in the chick picture, but I’m not sure which one she is. It’s one of the black ones.

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Aww, they're darling!

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Aww, they're darling!

Thank you! I have another EE, I’ll take a picture of her today, but she has no “fluff” on her head. Can’t remember if this one was an olive egger, she looks a lot like my other olive eggers. But if you look at the chick pic, there are 4 chicks in it. Anyways, here is the one I was talking about. (Like I said, I have another Easter egger, will take pics today!)

 

[Lizzy733]

Does she 'need' to be off on the farm?

I would recommend a few new additions. Raising one lone chick is a recipe for trouble. They will definitely need a few siblings.

Chicks are easy to contain in a small bin or topped pen. I always do my raising in the utility room where I can pop in and check on them often. Brooder-raised babies can become very attached to their humans, which is why regular interaction is good. You'll end up with friendly girls that crowd you when you come to the coop, want to sit in your lap, and are happy to be picked up, touched and handled, which makes medical checks a breeze. They can even 'convert' old flock members who've been human-wary into having a much smaller flight zone(whick I've seen with this summer's hatch).

At minimum, I'd recommend twice a day checks, morning and evening, plus getting them outside for short periods throughout the day once they get past their sleepy toddler phase and have a few feathers.

I think heat lamps get a bit of a bad rap on here, but I'm also a reptile keeper, so have plenty of experience with 'all' of the types. Make sure if you do go heat lamp that it is caged and bolted down in a ceramic socket fixture (a plank of wood with a down hole drilled in it laid across the top of a plastic bin was my first heat lamp fixture - I added some small blocks to the ends to catch the edge so it stayed put). A thermostat plug with a probe is ideal for ensuring things never get 'too' hot and can allow you to make temp adjustments on the thermostat instead of having to move the bulb around. Ceramic is recommended over red bulbs though, the latter tend to pop their filaments - I've even had one shatter on me... But they are the highest heat producers if you can't get temps up, so they do have their place. But ceramic or IR heat emitter(expensive reptile fare) for the win.

The easiest by far is to have a broody hen and give her hatching eggs - she'll do all the work for you, but your chicks won't be as friendly as brooder babies. (I have a silkie who is my hatching queen - just bought a second silkie and a frizzle to add to the organic incubator collection.)

Are you prepared for possible roos? Even in sexed orders it still happens - have a contingency plan for them, and if you decide to keep one, be aware that they need a bit of extra discipline starting in the brooder to ensure they learn to respect humans and know not to challenge you when they're older. And if you decide to keep several, you'll need a separate coop and run.

Never let them get away with rushing your hand, standing up to you or play-fighting no matter how cute it looks. Also, the roos are the real charmers of the brooder - they will be your 'best' friend if you let them, while the girls will be more standoffish.

This hatch has been my first time keeping the roos and I flip them upside-down at the first sign of aggression, and now that they're juveniles, enforce a one meter personal bubble when I'm out with them. So far, they are still my good boys who I can catch and handle without a fuss. I even had one come respectfully ask for cuddles yesterday, keeping to the bubble rule even though they're getting their spurs. I think he was jealous of my Jakes getting attention because they do still crowd me. I'm hoping the good behavior keeps up.

 

[3KillerBs]

Hello. Can you be a little less general about your location?

Down here in NC I can raise chicks outdoors in the coop or in my Outdoor Brooder pretty much any time between March and November without any particular worries, but if I were up in PA with much colder temperatures I wouldn't be able to do it.

If "Mid-Atlantic" means the Maryland part of the Delmarva peninsula you can do about what I can but if it means the Maryland panhandle you can't.

I agree that raising more then one chick is necessary. Chickens are flock animals and don't do well alone. Even if you end up selling the extras, at least get 3 and don't separate them until they're integrated into the flock.

Here is some good info on brooding chicks:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-raise-chickens.47660/

These are two threads about my experiences this past summer:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/25-from-welp.1494343/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/introducing-the-ideal-dozen.1469451/

 

[3KillerBs]

I think heat lamps get a bit of a bad rap on here, but I'm also a reptile keeper, so have plenty of experience with 'all' of the types.

I agree.

While no form of electrical device is ever 100% safe (nothing in the world is), a well-secured heatlamp in a suitably large space is a proven means of providing chicks with reliable heat.

IMO, much of the trouble happens when people fail to secure the lamp properly and/or use too high a wattage in too confined a space.

I personally do not trust a mama heating pad because, despite not having an automatic turn off, a medical heating pad meant to be used for half an hour at a time on a person's aching muscles is NOT designed to run constantly for 6 weeks.

(I looked into a brooder plate but since I brood outdoors I can't meet the 50+F ambient temperature requirements).

 

[Lizzy733]

I agree.

While no form of electrical device is ever 100% safe (nothing in the world is), a well-secured heatlamp in a suitably large space is a proven means of providing chicks with reliable heat.

IMO, much of the trouble happens when people fail to secure the lamp properly and/or use too high a wattage in too confined a space.

I personally do not trust a mama heating pad because, despite not having an automatic turn off, a medical heating pad meant to be used for half an hour at a time on a person's aching muscles is NOT designed to run constantly for 6 weeks.

(I looked into a brooder plate but since I brood outdoors I can't meet the 50+F ambient temperature requirements).

Indeed. I was volunteering at bird rescue and they had a bunch if backup fixtures - all plastic. I told them to get rid of them because they're just going to melt with ceramic bulbs. Checking temps and rigging a thermostat are really the best. Not all of us have AC (not really common to see more than a heat pump here in NZ) and temps can really fluctuate from day to night and the lamp needs to be able to fluctuate with it.

I thought I'd be smart and set up a tunnel with two seedling heat mats, but just couldn't get past 32c. They work great for later on and as a backup heat source in case something happened to the bulb and at those temps, I'm not fussed with regulating them.

I did have to pull out the red this time around to get me through the first 2 weeks, it then popped its filament - was essentially new, but that's just how reds do. It did the needful at least (and stocked up on some higher wattage ceramics with a low enough profile to fit my lamp cage for next time).

The mats are good for sick birds too, so I love having them around and do toss one in the brooder to supplement the main bulb. They can go forever and are waperproof - I just make sure they're wrapped in a towel so they don't get in direct contact with scratchy toes.

I have two ordered from overseas that are a few years old and they've never failed on me or developed any hot spots. Ran those for about 5 weeks straight at least this spring and they've still been getting intermittent use with my other babies.

I use all sorts for heat - even chemical hand warmers and hot water bottles for emergencies. Everything does have a use case... I tend to overstock on heating equipment. Our new place has occasional planned power outages, so trying to make contingency plans for my beardie to get through winter :/ may need a little psu or generator, but I'm wfh and we have a gas stovetop, so worst case, all the hot water bottles.

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Does she 'need' to be off on the farm?

I would recommend a few new additions. Raising one lone chick is a recipe for trouble. They will definitely need a few siblings.

Chicks are easy to contain in a small bin or topped pen. I always do my raising in the utility room where I can pop in and check on them often. Brooder-raised babies can become very attached to their humans, which is why regular interaction is good. You'll end up with friendly girls that crowd you when you come to the coop, want to sit in your lap, and are happy to be picked up, touched and handled, which makes medical checks a breeze. They can even 'convert' old flock members who've been human-wary into having a much smaller flight zone(whick I've seen with this summer's hatch).

At minimum, I'd recommend twice a day checks, morning and evening, plus getting them outside for short periods throughout the day once they get past their sleepy toddler phase and have a few feathers.

I think heat lamps get a bit of a bad rap on here, but I'm also a reptile keeper, so have plenty of experience with 'all' of the types. Make sure if you do go heat lamp that it is caged and bolted down in a ceramic socket fixture (a plank of wood with a down hole drilled in it laid across the top of a plastic bin was my first heat lamp fixture - I added some small blocks to the ends to catch the edge so it stayed put). A thermostat plug with a probe is ideal for ensuring things never get 'too' hot and can allow you to make temp adjustments on the thermostat instead of having to move the bulb around. Ceramic is recommended over red bulbs though, the latter tend to pop their filaments - I've even had one shatter on me... But they are the highest heat producers if you can't get temps up, so they do have their place. But ceramic or IR heat emitter(expensive reptile fare) for the win.

The easiest by far is to have a broody hen and give her hatching eggs - she'll do all the work for you, but your chicks won't be as friendly as brooder babies. (I have a silkie who is my hatching queen - just bought a second silkie and a frizzle to add to the organic incubator collection.)

Are you prepared for possible roos? Even in sexed orders it still happens - have a contingency plan for them, and if you decide to keep one, be aware that they need a bit of extra discipline starting in the brooder to ensure they learn to respect humans and know not to challenge you when they're older. And if you decide to keep several, you'll need a separate coop and run.

Never let them get away with rushing your hand, standing up to you or play-fighting no matter how cute it looks. Also, the roos are the real charmers of the brooder - they will be your 'best' friend if you let them, while the girls will be more standoffish.

This hatch has been my first time keeping the roos and I flip them upside-down at the first sign of aggression, and now that they're juveniles, enforce a one meter personal bubble when I'm out with them. So far, they are still my good boys who I can catch and handle without a fuss. I even had one come respectfully ask for cuddles yesterday, keeping to the bubble rule even though they're getting their spurs. I think he was jealous of my Jakes getting attention because they do still crowd me. I'm hoping the good behavior keeps up.

Yes, she will need to be on the farm, and we will be getting more than one, about 10 most likely.