coop is ready, planning to order some chicks - 5 from mypetchicken.com. i've read tons of books on this, but now that push comes to shove, i'm feeling scared that i haven't thought of everything.
1. what kind of hourly time commitment is required the first few days? (do i need to take off work to be with them? do they need constant monitoring for temperature?)
2. i was going to put them in a big box initially, with a light and water and food (as per instructions in the books i read). when they outgrow that i was thinking of just putting them in their coop during the day, with the trap closed - as it's 70-85 degrees during the day here. at night i would put them in a large pet carrier in the house. makes sense?
3. how much handling is too much, when they are a few days old? when can they be handled?
4. what are the top five worst errors, or assumptions you made about your first set of chicks?
THANK YOU to anyone who answers.
joy
1. what kind of hourly time commitment is required the first few days? (do i need to take off work to be with them? do they need constant monitoring for temperature?)
2. i was going to put them in a big box initially, with a light and water and food (as per instructions in the books i read). when they outgrow that i was thinking of just putting them in their coop during the day, with the trap closed - as it's 70-85 degrees during the day here. at night i would put them in a large pet carrier in the house. makes sense?
3. how much handling is too much, when they are a few days old? when can they be handled?
4. what are the top five worst errors, or assumptions you made about your first set of chicks?
THANK YOU to anyone who answers.
joy
