The Quail Guru
In the Brooder
- Jun 5, 2015
- 64
- 8
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I'm planning on getting some chicks online but I got few questions:
1) How many chicks do I need? I'm thinking of only getting about three since I don't have a lot of space to keep them but they will be free range. I'm not sure whether this is good enough or not since I heard that they are social birds.
2) How big should their brooder be and where should I keep it. I was planning on keeping them in a cardboard box. I'm not quite sure on where to keep the brooder yet though. It could be in an empty storage room but its quite cold in there during winter (and yes, it's winter here now in Australia) or I could keep them in a small shed but that's a bit cold as well. Or will they be warm enough in the rooms with a heat lamp? My last place to keep them is in my bedroom which is pretty warm but I don't know whether the chicks smell or not?
3) Do they make a lot of noise? I don't mind noise it's just that I don't know whether my dog will go crazy about the noise or not. Do chicks peep quite a lot or quite loudly? My dogs quite small but she always use to try to attack the quail so she'll probably try to get hold of the chicks as well.
4) How much does it cost to raise chicks into chickens. I'm keeping the chickens as pets so no breeding or egg selling for me but will it cost a fortune?
5) Should I use paper towels as the bedding or an old towel? Is there anything wrong with using these?
That's all the questions for now, thanks for any replies.
1) How many chicks do I need? I'm thinking of only getting about three since I don't have a lot of space to keep them but they will be free range. I'm not sure whether this is good enough or not since I heard that they are social birds.
2) How big should their brooder be and where should I keep it. I was planning on keeping them in a cardboard box. I'm not quite sure on where to keep the brooder yet though. It could be in an empty storage room but its quite cold in there during winter (and yes, it's winter here now in Australia) or I could keep them in a small shed but that's a bit cold as well. Or will they be warm enough in the rooms with a heat lamp? My last place to keep them is in my bedroom which is pretty warm but I don't know whether the chicks smell or not?
3) Do they make a lot of noise? I don't mind noise it's just that I don't know whether my dog will go crazy about the noise or not. Do chicks peep quite a lot or quite loudly? My dogs quite small but she always use to try to attack the quail so she'll probably try to get hold of the chicks as well.
4) How much does it cost to raise chicks into chickens. I'm keeping the chickens as pets so no breeding or egg selling for me but will it cost a fortune?
5) Should I use paper towels as the bedding or an old towel? Is there anything wrong with using these?
That's all the questions for now, thanks for any replies.