Tarp safe for heat lamp?

[Lesleyhg]

Thank you all. The chicks hatched today, and we will pick up tomorrow. I am so glad there are so many caring people to help all us newbies. I think i have decided to do the heat lamp and tarp while we are home this weekend and I will monitor the temp... Then after that, i will go get a new heating pad for while we are at work, since the heat is not as needed since they will be a few days old. Everyone on this thread has influenced me and I am so grateful. I am trying my best to raise healthy chickens as a newbie. I love animals. Next I am going to look at threads that talk about vaccinations. Not sure ehat to do there. My sister had 4 chickens that got Maraks in Los Angeles. Never around any other chickens. Scares me.

 

[Lesleyhg]

 

[Lesleyhg]

 

[Folly's place]

Marek's vaccine needs to be given to day-old chicks, and is available by mail-order in dose vial of 1000. Very inconvenient for small producers! When I order chicks from a hatchery, I always have them vaccinated, but chicks hatched on my farm aren't vaccinated by me. They are the 'canaries in the coal mine' and will show me if Marek's disease ever arrives here. Once it's on the property, it stays for many years, not a good thing. After over twenty years, thanks to paranoid biosecurity on my part, and good luck, no problems yet. It's best to get vaccinated chicks, but not always possible. Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, vaccinations and how to raise healthy chickens is a big topic on here, as it should be. As always you will get a lot of different opinions. As always, we have different circumstances.

When I moved here after retiring I called my local county extension agent, who put me in touch with a local chicken disease expert. This person teaches poultry science at the state university, has bred and raised championship show chickens and plays around with breeding chickens, and is on the team that investigates any chicken disease outbreaks in this area.

We discussed how I was going to manage them, a fairly closed flock where the only way I bring in new chickens is to get them from an established hatchery or with hatching eggs and hatch them myself. I don’t take my chickens to shows where they could be infected and I don’t do chicken swaps. We also discussed diseases in the area. There had been one reported case of Marek’s in the county during the past two years, not in my neighborhood. After talking to him I decided to not get vaccinated chicks, no vaccine of any type.

I hatch my own chicks, sometimes with a broody hen, sometimes in an incubator. My brooder is in the coop so my incubator chicks are also exposed to the flock from hatch. For the Marek’s vaccine to be effective the chicks need to be isolated from any exposure to Marek’s for about two weeks, give the vaccination time to become effective. That’s not the way I raise mine.

I don’t know the prevalence of diseases in your area, how you plan to manage them, or how close other flocks are to you. I don’t know what the right answer is for you. I wish you luck in your research, it’s not always an easy decision.

 

[Lesleyhg]

Well I guess I am not vaccinating then. They came from a family farm, and they have never had it. I live in the suburbs pretty much, and no one has chickens near us. We picked them up today, I am so in love. They are a mix of different breeds. Doing the heat lamp this weekend, but gonna switch to a pad on Monday. Again all the advice has been great.

 

[Lesleyhg]

 

[Lesleyhg]

 

[Lesleyhg]

 

[Lesleyhg]

Those were the first pics, they are huddled cause they just went in. Garage door always is closed. Temp around 85 to 90 under the light.