Questions about raising baby chicks for the first time

[bexleyb]

I have to ask the first obligatory question, since you're new to chickens: What kind of brooder setup do you have?

This is what I have set up right now

 

[BarnyardChaos]

This is what I have set up right now

You're on the right track with that tote. It's a good size for a couple of weeks. Do you see how they're huddled up together under the heat? They are cold. The heat lamp needs to be a bit closer, so that the temperature where the chicks are is about 95 degrees or a little less. They also need a cooler space to go to if they're too warm. So put the lamp near one corner, and lower it to about 18-inches +/- from the floor.

You don't have to buy a thermometer - their behavior will tell you when the temperature is just right. What you want to see are the chicks scattered around the brooder and quietly peeping. If they're huddled together like that, they're too cold. If they are as far away from the light as they can get and chirping loudly, they're too hot. Sometimes they'll lay down in a ring around the warmest zone, not under the light, but not far from it, either - and that's fine. Their behavior like this will tell you whether the light needs to be closer, or raised up higher. Typically, you want to drop the temperature by about 5-degrees per week, and remove it completely at about 5 weeks when they're fully feathered. They'll have outgrown that tote long before that, though.

Within a few days, you'll want to add a screen or wire mesh cover over the tote. You'll be surprised how quickly they'll grow wing feathers. By about 1-1/2 to 2 weeks, they'll be able to fly out of the tote.

Do you have a coop and run ready for them? What's it like?
I think my coops are kinda cute, even if they do make our place look like a trailer park. I have a couple of old camper trailers that I've gutted on the inside, added roosts and nesting boxes, fixed broken windows, and put down vinyl flooring.

I'm in Missouri. Where are you?

 

[bexleyb]

You're on the right track with that tote. It's a good size for a couple of weeks. Do you see how they're huddled up together under the heat? They are cold. The heat lamp needs to be a bit closer, so that the temperature where the chicks are is about 95 degrees or a little less. They also need a cooler space to go to if they're too warm. So put the lamp near one corner, and lower it to about 18-inches +/- from the floor.

You don't have to buy a thermometer - their behavior will tell you when the temperature is just right. What you want to see are the chicks scattered around the brooder and quietly peeping. If they're huddled together like that, they're too cold. If they are as far away from the light as they can get and chirping loudly, they're too hot. Sometimes they'll lay down in a ring around the warmest zone, not under the light, but not far from it, either - and that's fine. Their behavior like this will tell you whether the light needs to be closer, or raised up higher. Typically, you want to drop the temperature by about 5-degrees per week, and remove it completely at about 5 weeks when they're fully feathered. They'll have outgrown that tote long before that, though.

Within a few days, you'll want to add a screen or wire mesh cover over the tote. You'll be surprised how quickly they'll grow wing feathers. By about 1-1/2 to 2 weeks, they'll be able to fly out of the tote.

Do you have a coop and run ready for them? What's it like?
I think my coops are kinda cute, even if they do make our place look like a trailer park. I have a couple of old camper trailers that I've gutted on the inside, added roosts and nesting boxes, fixed broken windows, and put down vinyl flooring.

I'm in Missouri. Where are you?

Yes, I have a coop ready for them. Mine is just like an old fashion kind of coop, I like to keep things basic, to be honest. It has 4 nesting boxes, a couple of roosting bars, and a big run for them to run around. I am in Montana

 

[bexleyb]

Yes, I have a coop ready for them. Mine is just like an old fashion kind of coop, I like to keep things basic, to be honest. It has 4 nesting boxes, a couple of roosting bars, and a big run for them to run around. I am in Montana

I use some pine shavings for the nesting boxes

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Yes, I have a coop ready for them. Mine is just like an old fashion kind of coop, I like to keep things basic, to be honest. It has 4 nesting boxes, a couple of roosting bars, and a big run for them to run around. I am in Montana

I use some pine shavings for the nesting boxes

Brrrrr! But oh so beautiful. Do you have other chickens, too?

 

[AntiqueB]

Remember they'll need less and less heat as they get older, too, about 5° less per week.

 

[bexleyb]

Brrrrr! But oh so beautiful. Do you have other chickens, too?

No, I don't have other chickens. This is my first time raising chickens. It is a little cold here.

 

[bexleyb]

Remember they'll need less and less heat as they get older, too, about 5° less per week.

Thank you!