Raising Chicks in Republic of Panama

[panamachick]

We have a farm in the Republic of Panama. The local farmers tell us that we need 24 hour lights to speed chick growth. Is that true?

 

[EweSheep]

I dont know about speeding up the chick's growth but for baby chicks, you would need heating brooder light until they feathered out. After that you would not need to.

How old are they and what kind are they?

 

[chickiebaby]

We love members from new places. Tell us about your birds, coops, etc. Welcome!

 

[panamachick]

We don't know what kind of chicks they are. The Panamaians breed them locally with no additional heat as chicks...it's 80-100 degrees in Panama. We are keeping in mind that the man who told us this doesn't have electric light and had heard this from other sources but never tried it himself. These chickens are for eating and laying...nothing fancy...we'll try and find out the breed.
Thanks
Panamachick

 

[cmom]

Please keep us posted. Do you have any pictures?

 

[NurseELB]

My SIL's family lives down there! Looking forward to a visit someday, myself!

I just realized, you'll probably never get a slow down in egg production since you have such a constant year round day/night cycle!! Lucky!

 

[allaboutdemchicks]

So glad you joined us.

 

[Mahonri]

Bienvenido a BYC!

The only part of Panama that I know is the airport... I've landed there at least 3 times going north and south between here and Ecuador.

 

[birdsofparadise]

Dear Panama Chick,

Here in Hawaii, our climate is pretty similar to yours, just the Summer high temps are lower. I keep a heat lamp on my brooder to insure that trade winds donʻt cool it off too much and to help keep the pine shaving litter dry. What I do see happening is that my chick feather out quickly and want to begin roaming much sooner than I would expect from my Midwestern farm experience.

If enough members are interested, we should start a thread on raising chicks in the tropics. The topic isnʻt covered by any of the books and the local USDA office just hands out the same literature they print for Nebraska!

Aloha!

 

[Steve52]

I think a tropics section would be a good idea. I'm just getting started: getting my first hatching eggs this week! I live on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Warm all year round here.