Texas

[Cockle-Dood]

I keep them in an unheated, enclosed "front porch" if you will. that room typically mimics the outside temp pretty well, lots of windows and unfortunatly some holes as well.

So what your saying, if im understanding correctly, is that once i can get their brooder temp down to where it matches the cooler temps outside then we are good? so in the summer when its a brisk 88 in the evening(ha!) they may be able to go outside sooner than the group i have now, regardless of feathering?

 

[Little Wing]

for the baby chicks and reducing their heat, mine just hit a week and am starting to keep their brooder between 80-85. at what point do they not need light anymore for heat anyway. I think i read somewhere that once you get them to 70 they are good, but cant seem to find where or when i read this.

I read somewhere that you lower the brooder temp by 5 degrees a week, so by 10 weeks or so they should be able to withstand 45 or 50 degrees at night.

Shipment from where?

Paul Smith in Gainsville.

 

[Kilsharion]

I read somewhere that you lower the brooder temp by 5 degrees a week, so by 10 weeks or so they should be able to withstand 45 or 50 degrees at night.

I'm a horrible chick 'parent'...I drop that sucker each week and boot them out of the brooder at four weeks. If we drop below 50 degrees, I pop a heat lamp on the end of the coop ((the pics in my sig file kinda show how that's possible)) and they can cuddle up near it if they need to. By six weeks, all bets are off and they are on their own.

 

[Little Wing]

I'm a horrible chick 'parent'...I drop that sucker each week and boot them out of the brooder at four weeks. If we drop below 50 degrees, I pop a heat lamp on the end of the coop ((the pics in my sig file kinda show how that's possible)) and they can cuddle up near it if they need to. By six weeks, all bets are off and they are on their own.

Mine stay four weeks in the brooders and then go to the barn brooder stall that has a heat lamp on all the time but plenty of room to get away from it and explore. The ones that stop sleeping under the heat lamp at night are then moved on out.

 

[yinepu]

I keep them in an unheated, enclosed "front porch" if you will. that room typically mimics the outside temp pretty well, lots of windows and unfortunatly some holes as well.

So what your saying, if im understanding correctly, is that once i can get their brooder temp down to where it matches the cooler temps outside then we are good? so in the summer when its a brisk 88 in the evening(ha!) they may be able to go outside sooner than the group i have now, regardless of feathering?

Pretty much... just let them tell you if they are too cold.. huddling together can lead to smothering if the temps drop down too cold for them to handle

I read somewhere that you lower the brooder temp by 5 degrees a week, so by 10 weeks or so they should be able to withstand 45 or 50 degrees at night.
Paul Smith in Gainsville.

Lol.. I never go "by the book" since the chicks never read it.. I have had some very well feathered chicks that went right outside.. but others that were the same age just didn't have the feathering and couldn't take the cooler temps. I don't think i have used a thermometer in the brooders in a very long time

I'm a horrible chick 'parent'...I drop that sucker each week and boot them out of the brooder at four weeks. If we drop below 50 degrees, I pop a heat lamp on the end of the coop ((the pics in my sig file kinda show how that's possible)) and they can cuddle up near it if they need to. By six weeks, all bets are off and they are on their own.

nah... not horrible.. you just don't baby them.. and there's nothing wrong with that..

For me it depends on the breed and how well they are feathering out. I have had some feather out very fast and were just too hot in the house.. others needed more "indoor" time
plus I tend to have chicks year round.. winter babies stay in longer than summer ones do .. but again it depends on the temps outside... I don't give them a heat lamp at night once they move outside. (lol.. I'm just "mean" like that).. but I don't put them out until they are acclimated.. so that makes a difference

 

[Texasmja]

I just go by the outside air temps and the amount of feathering the chicks have

they may be fine in a brooder in the house.. but huddle together for warmth if the air outside is still too cool


regardless I start acclimating mine to the great outdoors before putting them outside 24/7
so on nice days they go out into a small pen and I keep an eye on them to see how they react...

This is what I also do. Mine move out faster than most people do theirs. If it is summer and hot, they go out. I had chicks hatch in July last year, by three weeks they lived outside 24/7.

 

[Texasmja]

This is the cool (for in the house with the heat lamp) box my DH built for my babies!

Awesome! I would love that!

 

[kpchick]

I am so sorry for your loss.

Awwwww so sad.....

 

[galanie]

Thank you, bnjrob, I was aware of that but it never hurts to repeat it for others who don't know.  I don't have males and my girls are not allowed to date yet.  

I had originally wanted organic, non-soy, omega 3 layer feed for when my chicks got to be 18 weeks old.  I bought a bag of a competitors' s organic layer feed which was not at all what I was looking for and the waste of feed irritated me.

I have had horrible luck with most organics, and Purina layer the worst of all. Purina is all vegetarian. Chickens are not vegetarians and need the animal proteins. They won't touch most of those feeds, even if that's all they get for 3 days in a row. When a CHICKEN won't eat something for that long, I figure something is seriously wrong with it.

 

[galanie]

I would start small at first, don't want to waste a whole bag, LOL!  I did too much the first time and ended up tossing almost half a bag, broke my heart!  Of course depending on how many you have 50 pounds might just be 2 days worth

lol.. we have a lot of birds.. I also read on the fermented feed thread where Kassaundra ferments 50 pounds of feed at a time.. from what she said it usually takes a month for her birds to eat it. Apparently it's like sourdough starter and doesn't "go bad" if it's stirred up a bit every day

Kassaundra is fermenting whole oats only. I feed fermented food and it's just 18% grower with a bit of Calf Manna tossed in. It works best if you do a rotating thing where you take some out and add some regularly rather than just let it set. BeeKissed did quite a bit of research on this, and they showed where optimum fermenting didn't really take all that long. Just make sure the food is wet, like oatmeal after soaking or wetter, and let 'er sit. In Summer I have bad luck leaving it out in the heat. Gnats and flies get to it no matter what I do and it gets to smelling like something died in there a month ago. But in the house, if I keep taking out and putting back, it works perfectly.