Stressful start with first time flock

[tpatricco]

Hi -

After spending almost a year on a FB Backyard chicken group, following bloggers, reading books - we were ready to start our own flock. The coop is ordered - and we got our first 6 chicks 10 days ago. They all seemed ok, one in particular was not what I'd describe as lethargic, but was definitely less active than the others. I gave them electrolytes in their water, and medicated feed, kept the brooder warm (maybe too warm?) - that weak chick passed last Wednesday, and then a second one who was seemingly fine we lost on Friday. Definitely feeling disheartened and worried... I did seek advice from my online group - several more seasoned farmers in the group felt the brooder was likely too hot. We've made changes and they seem to be doing better. We decided to get a few more chicks this Saturday to ensure we have a good sized flock we can raise together. So added 6 more for a total of 10. I'm watching them all like a hawk - and more stressed with worry for their well being than I was for my human when he was an infant.

One chick, a Salmon Faverolle who I estimate is probably between 2-3 weeks old is now sneezing and with watery eyes. OMG. I'm terrified for her. I gave some Nutri-drench in their water, and also gave her (and the others) some mashed up hard boiled egg yolks. This morning her eyes were crusty - I swabbed with saline to clean them off - gave her a little Poultry RX and more egg yolk. I'm at work but praying she (and the others) are all ok.

This baby chick raising is not for the faint of heart.

 

[rebrascora]

Plastic totes are not ideal as they contain the heat, so that it is difficult to have a cool area for food and water. Even worse if you have them in the house where the ambient temperature of the room causes it to be even warmer. You definitely do not want the lid on even with a hardware cloth window in it. Replace the lid with a full sheet of hardware cloth at the very least and I would cut the sides out and cover those with hardware cloth too to allow air flow maybe 5 inches above the ground level on two sides.
Having said that it sounds like you are going to need a larger brooder pronto with that many chicks which will be growing fast, so better to build something bigger. Large cardboard boxes stuck together with holes cut through to create rooms works well, then you can have the heat source in one box and the food and water in an adjacent box which is unheated and you can add extra boxes as they grow. Having the food and water in a cool part of the brooder is really important because bacteria will rapidly grow in warm water and also the chicks need cold water to cool down if they are too hot..... imagine if they were outside with a broody hen, they would be running about in the cold and just snuggle under the hen when they need to warm up, so don't fall into the mistaken belief that the whole brooder needs to be warm.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Chicks are incredibly durable and precocious. They don't need all the ambient air to be warm. They need a warm space and lots of cool space so they can find their comfort zone. They also need extreme ventilation. If they don't have lots of fresh air, respiratory issues can arise.

 

[aart]

We built one from a large plastic tote - hardware cloth insert in the lid. We started with a Brinsea ecoglow but switched to a red light bulb this weekend.

A tote with a red heat lamp is likely to overheat them.
Get a bigger space and go back to the heat plate.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I can't believe how many plastic tote brooders are recommended - they literally seem to be everywhere on Pinterest, bloggers recommend them etc. And for us it was a nightmare. It definitely was not clear to me that the chicks would be fine with indoor room temperatures and just needed the Brinsea as a place to go for warmth when needed. This whole 95 degrees and 5 degrees less per week thing was definitely a stumbling point for me. Thing was, I had a thermometer in the brooder and it was registering in the 80-85 degree range but was still too hot for the chicks overall. I definitely think it was the lack of ventilation - because in the brooding room at Jersey Chickens it was tropical hot - and those birds all seemed to be doing ok.

So much more learning curve than I expected - and I truly felt I had taken the time to learn and understand before getting chicks. Thanks for your post - I appreciate knowing I'm not the only one who learned this lesson the hard way.

You clearly gave it the old college try, learning before buying.
The learning curve isn't nearly as steep for those of us who grew up on farms with all manner of livestock. Even though chicken husbandry is second nature, I'm constantly learning. I've been teaching poultry classes for almost 10 years at community colleges, poultry conferences, slow food, botanical garden, humane society, gateway greening, etc.. As I continue to learn, I've rewritten my booklet handouts several times because I no longer believe some of the things I noted just a decade ago.
I think the totes are recommended with the assumption that they're easily cleaned and reusable. But, overheating, insufficient ventilation, slick bottom and inability to expand are the drawbacks.
Most of what I do with chicks is to try and replicate what a mother hen does. She can't heat all the ambient air to 90F. She provides a warm up spot under her and most of the time the chicks are running around regardless of temperature. If they get chilled, they run under her for a bit and then back to running around in the cold fresh air and sunlight. That is much healthier for them and I believe they feather out faster.
When brooding large numbers of chicks (50-100), I use an Ohio brooder with ceramic emitters in an outbuilding. That provides a warm spot and lots of cool space around the brooder. I now mostly brood smaller numbers (5-20). For that I use a Premier1 heat plate in cardboard boxes. Large moving boxes from Lowe's are about $1.50 and an ideal size. If the conditions aren't conducive for moving them outside in a timely manner, you can just add boxes as needed by cutting doorways between them.
When that batch of chicks is done, you can compost the boxes - feces, bedding and all.

 

[tpatricco]

But they're so cute!

20190507_185745

• tpatricco
• May 7, 2019

A little break from the brooder.

Enjoying a little "free ranging" on the porch tonight.

 

[danceswithronin]

You sound like me last year when I was raising chicks for the first time, but instead of dealing with losses I ended up having to navigate cannibalism

Thank you! We have already downgraded their heat - I think our brooder is too small and with the Brinsea unit in there it was even more crowded. We switched to a red bulb and have begun to worry less about the 90 degree environment. I think we're going to move them to a bigger space with more ventillation and then will have better room for the Brinsea too. I appreciate understanding about what can cause respiratory distress for them too. Although we're not using any bedding yet - just newspaper with paper towels on top to be non-slip and easy to change out, I think maybe the closed quarters are not so great for them either. I definitely have been "trying too hard" to make things perfect and it's backfiring.

If you are looking for something with good ventilation, I can't recommend these things enough:

Not only are they well ventilated, they are easy to clean, can be zipped up from the sides and the bottom, are collapsible, and even have a handy pocket on the outside to store some treats or something. I have raised two batches of chicks in one of these and I wouldn't swap to anything else.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A tote is doable with a 75 watt ceramic heat emitter but NOT with a 250Watt infrared lamp.

 

[Norcal527]

Make sure you do not have cedar shavings as they can cause respiratory distress in chicks. I'm sorry for your losses... that's the hardest part of raising baby chicks...even if you do everything right you will still lose some. They are delicate and sometimes they just have internal issues. One other thing I've learned is to keep them on paper towels or puppy pads for the first week and sprinkle a little food around near their feeder. This keeps them from eating wood shavings and getting their fill and not eating enough food. Good luck with your chicks!

 

[tpatricco]

I now mostly brood smaller numbers (5-20). For that I use a Premier1 heat plate in cardboard boxes. Large moving boxes from Lowe's are about $1.50 and an ideal size. If the conditions aren't conducive for moving them outside in a timely manner, you can just add boxes as needed by cutting doorways between them.
When that batch of chicks is done, you can compost the boxes - feces, bedding and all.

Thanks! I realize I'm going to need a bigger habitat for them very soon - I like the idea of the boxes - I can move them out onto my enclosed porch in that setup and the Brinsea heat plate. I don't really have an indoor space big enough for them after they outgrow the dog crate. And since I'm only **technically** allowed 6 chickens by ordinance, I don't really want to build a more permanent setup either. Their chicken mansion should be delivered by around Memorial Day too.