Raising 400 chicks

[howdyitsmia]

What an awesome thread! I love reading postings like this. Yes, please keep us up to date on how this venture goes. And more cute pictures, of course.

Absolutely! I can’t seem to stop taking pictures. Most of the time they aren’t great however

 

[Msoul]

I had to make sure I read that correctly 400 chicks my hat is off to you my dear! Please keep us posted that is a great trailer set up and for free can't beat that for sure! Congrats to you and your babies and keep the pictures coming as they get older!

 

[howdyitsmia]

Update time!!!
The chicks are now almost 7 weeks old, so I guess they’re officially pullets now, (with many suspected of being cockerels)

There’s a few pictures from a few days ago, I’ll take some more later.
In a couple of the pictures you can see the new waterers, we switched from 1 gallon waterers to 5 gallon steel ones, and they last much longer. The only problem is that I can’t carry them.

We’re preparing to move the chicks to their new place, a greenhouse tunnel on a farm. It’s under construction at the moment because of a windstorm, so we’re waiting a bit longer than intended. It’s much bigger than the trailer though, so the chicks won’t be crowded as they get larger.

Luckily, we’ve only had 2 or 3 more deaths I believe, and I think we’re past that now. I’m looking forward to the future!!!

 

[PioneerChicks]

Update time!!!
The chicks are now almost 7 weeks old, so I guess they’re officially pullets now, (with many suspected of being cockerels)
View attachment 2414881View attachment 2414882View attachment 2414883
There’s a few pictures from a few days ago, I’ll take some more later.
In a couple of the pictures you can see the new waterers, we switched from 1 gallon waterers to 5 gallon steel ones, and they last much longer. The only problem is that I can’t carry them.

We’re preparing to move the chicks to their new place, a greenhouse tunnel on a farm. It’s under construction at the moment because of a windstorm, so we’re waiting a bit longer than intended. It’s much bigger than the trailer though, so the chicks won’t be crowded as they get larger.

Luckily, we’ve only had 2 or 3 more deaths I believe, and I think we’re past that now. I’m looking forward to the future!!!

That's great! You have a awesome set-up! When are you selling them?

 

[howdyitsmia]

That's great! You have a awesome set-up! When are you selling them?

We'll be selling the eggs around March, once they all start laying and the eggs are a good size.

 

[PioneerChicks]

We'll be selling the eggs around March, once they all start laying and the eggs are a good size.

Wahoo! What a great project!

 

[Sally PB]

This is so neat! Please let us know how it goes and update anytime when you have time. Good luck!

 

[howdyitsmia]

This is so neat! Please let us know how it goes and update anytime when you have time. Good luck!

I absolutely will, thanks!

 

[howdyitsmia]

Update time!!!

We’ve moved the chicks to the greenhouse tunnel!

They’ve been there for a couple of weeks now and everything was going well, up until last week.
We started finding dead chicks by the waterers every morning, in the same place and we weren’t sure why. One night we went out there and found that the chicks had a weird piling habit right over there, so we had to push them back towards the brooders. They eventually started sleeping under the brooders, but they all crowded into the same two and started smothering each other again. We’ve manually moved them the last few days, but yesterday we finally built roosts.

Hopefully that will get them to break their habit and spread out a bit more.

The chicks are completely feathered out now, with a couple of exceptions

And the EE’s feet are green now! Including one leghorn I saw that’s probably a mix.

They’ll be living in the greenhouse for the rest of the winter, and I’m so happy with how things are turning out. They have plenty of room, bugs to eat, and dirt to bathe in. Luckily it stays really warm in the tunnel as well, especially during the day.
They’re getting really big! My babies are growing up.

 

[ackie]

This is amazing omg.

Did you buy female chicks or straight run? What's your plan for the cockrells?

The piling could be from being too cold. I'd consider adding a heat source. I know its risky for a bunch of reasons but it stopped my piling problem immediately. I hang the heat lamps so they cant fall even if the clip or bracket were to break.