Questions

[Sparky2133]

There's a PPBA show in Stockton on the 26-27th of January. I made arrangements to pick up two Nankin chicks during the show and I'm wondering how I can manage this?

I know I'm going to need a brooder; what design? We're going to be staying in a hotel; will that be enough?

This is my first time raising chicks; all my birds I have I bought when they were fully grown. Any suggestions? I am going to need all the help I can get, LOL.

(PS Is anybody else going to be there?)

 

[stevetone]

How old will the chicks be? Their age would determine the environment they will need to be kept in.

 

[sumi]

That is true. Check out the Learning Center. There are some good info on raising chicks, feeding, brooders etc.

 

[Sparky2133]

That is true. Check out the Learning Center. There are some good info on raising chicks, feeding, brooders etc.

Thanks for the link, but I think this is a sort of weird situation .

How old will the chicks be? Their age would determine the environment they will need to be kept in.

I don't know the specifics, but I think they will be under a week (I am not positive, though.)

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.brinsea.com/prod-EcoGlow_20_Chick_Brooder-239.aspx
I don't know how warm these really are as I don't have one, but it looks good. Dog carrier/cage/plastic tote and one of these?

 

[stevetone]

We have used the EcoGlow20 for our little ones. They work well, and don't draw much current.

I think that the method you have chosen to get chicks, of an unknown age, contains a lot of risk. One-week old chicks need more-or-less constant heat and stable conditions. To pick them up at a poultry show, where there are a lot of mature birds around and a corresponding large amount of mature cocci and other nasties, is a risk I would not personally take.

How will the breeder keep them warm for the transport period? How will you keep them warm in your vehicle? In the hotel? How will hey be kept isolated from exposure to other birds? How will you feed and water them in transit?

Good luck. You have a lot of challenges ahead of you.

And while your particular transport method may be unique, the chick's environmental needs are not unusual--you really should pour over the Learning Center for more information.

 

[debid]

It's only a 1-hour drive to Stockton, right? A microwaveable heat pack in a cardboard box for the car (most hotels have microwaves in the room) and a plastic tote brooder for the hotel. Easy-peasy. If you buy an Ecoglo, you could use it in the cardboard box and skip the plastic tote. I'm pretty sure that chicks of any age can survive for an hour without food or water but I'd bring enough along to see them through that first night.

But, as another poster said, I would also consider the potential for disease. If the breeder will be bringing the chicks into the show where there are a hundred other chicken keepers with birds for sale, I wouldn't buy them. There are just too many diseases that can transmit via air over those short distances. But if she's selling them out of her vehicle and you're meeting there for convenience, I'd be OK with it.

 

[Sparky2133]

Would I need a heat lamp, or would a heating pad work?

I did not consider the risk of disease, so I have emailed the seller and asked if we will meet at the show.