Ramie chicks & how hot can they stand?

[Smorz]

2 weeks old today. Speckled Sussex. 24. In a 2x4 box. They are growing fast so I added a second box, about 30" square. They wander in it some but they still hang mostly where the light is. I'm thinking they are feeling crowded so I moved the water into the add-on. Do you think they will go in there to drink??? Or am I risking dehydration. I changed the light to shine into the add-on so they would see it in there, but for all of them in the small box - too much, so I changed the light back pretty quickly. It's already quieter... But I don't want to risk their health.

And... What the heck can I move them into next??? They are getting so big. They are in my bedroom because the garage is quite hot. Can they deal with the heat of the garage any better than cold? No draft but about as hot as outside, so could be 90 or so.

Entrance to 2nd box shown on right.

 

[Smorz]

Ok, I solved the water issue... I was able to move the lamp to a different location and now it shines on both sides - if not too far away. I'll watch their behavior.

 

[WilhelminaD]

Sounds like you did the right thing in moving the light so it covers both boxes. The boxes don't look like they'll be big enough in a week or two, though. Do you have a larger area set up? As to how much heat, I'd like to know, too! I'm moving my 8 week olds out to the coop tonight after work and I'm worried since we're supposed to have a heat snap.

 

[Smorz]

Ikr, DW, the space is already looking cramped. Oy. 24 birds take up room pretty quickly. I'm hoping I can put them in the coop next week - at 3 weeks??? I'll watch how much they need the light.

 

[WilhelminaD]

Three weeks is awfully young for the coop. Temps can fluctuate out there - though if you have the heat lamp in there and it's not going to be too hot outside you should be fine. You have to wait until they're fully feathered, and that can vary by breed. I'd planned to put mine out at six weeks, but we had trouble finishing the coop in time. I'm glad of it - I'm much more sanguine about putting them out there now that everyone except my roos are completely feathered, and my roos are mostly feathered with just some on top coming in.

 

[ChaoSS]

I had 18 birds that I just got out of my house at 5 weeks, I had 4 boxes connected together. Put the light so it's only on the one side. They can find the water just fine, they need to be able to get to the heat when they need it and they need to be able to get away from the heat when they get too hot.


As for the coop, if it doesn't get too hot, 3 weeks shouldn't be too soon for the coop, so long as you can put the heat lamp in there and give them the ability to get under it or get away from it. Birds in the wild don't have brooder boxes, so long as they can warm up when needed they are fine.

 

[Smorz]

4 boxes, eh? Wow, I don't remember dealing with this 15 years ago when we first got chicks. There were banties then too tho, so they wouldn't require so much space. Glad I've got extra boxes!

So about that ramminess... They aren't sounding an alert, they are just constantly chirping and pecking and being busy. I know that's not a great description, but it IS a change in their behavior in the last 2 days. They hardly settle down for sleep and just seem to be constantly at something. Not each other. And now they are using both boxes well, so it doesn't "seem" like a space issue. Is this just normal chick behavior??

 

[ChaoSS]

Sounds normal to my limited experience. I shut off my lamp around 3 weeks, when I had the lamp on all night they didn't have much of a day/night cycle, when I shut off the light they settled in at night.


As for my 4 boxes they were smallish boxes, 18 x 24, so the entire thing was 3 feet by 4 feet. When I started I had 18 layers and dp chicks and 9 CX chicks in two boxes with a hole between them. At one week when I could tell the difference between them all, I set up two more boxes and moved the broilers into those boxes. At two weeks I moved the broilers to the outdoor brooder and cut a hole between the two sets of boxes. At some point I also gave them a roost. By 5 weeks (this last weekend) they moved outside (no lamp, lows in the low 50s) and they had definitely outgrown the inside brooder.

 

[WilhelminaD]

Agreed about the heat lamp keeping them up all night. Also, mine were constantly running and darting and cheeping. Unless they sound like they're in distress it's likely normal.