bcorps
Songster
As you may imagine, the chicken hobby seems to be, like all other hobbies, full of conflicting advice. My belief is most people take their anecdotal experience and it becomes fact in their minds.
Case in point. Now I have an acquaintance who has had a large part in steering my choices in this hobby. She had recently gotten some BO chicks (her firsts as well) from same supplier. I have grown to trust her on quite a few things, but in this instance I must change my tack.
I got my baby BO's this past Friday (all were vaccinated). For some reason, I got a free one with my half dozen, so seven in total. Despite trusting my friend, who claims she keeps her house at about 75-76 degrees, who swears she didn't have to heat hers at all (she even said when she turned on a heat lamp, they all immediately went to the other end of the cage, and never went back), I put a 22-watt reptile heating mat stuck to the bottom of the glass at one end of the tank. They are in a 40-gallon breeder aquarium, with lots of pine shavings, and a short cardboard "quonset hut mama" over the end that has the heating mat.
I set the thermostat to 80 degrees, and at first all seemed okay. They were all fairly timid at first, but I expected (maybe I shouldn't have? <--newbie) that. The first night, after a lot of eating and drinking, they dogpiled and slept in the bend of a towel I put in the cage, rather than go under the cardboard. Again, all seemed happy.
The next morning, six of them started their romp-and-roll routine. They seemed super happy. But one of them started with a constant cheep, cheep "mama" (I assume) cry. All day long. She would eat and drink (though not as much as the others), but what she really seemed to want more than anything was to be babied. It was somewhat heart breaking to watch her follow the others around, trying to get under their tiny wings. Of course they were like "um...leave me alone, runt". So I picked her up. Instant silence, wherupon she went to sleep against my chest, rousing only to poop on me every so often (gross lol).
When I would put her back, she would immediately start crying again. Since she was eating and drinking, I assumed she must just be an "I want mama" bird, she's cold (though the others didn't seem to be), or both. So I turned the heat up to 95F, thinking hey, if the others get too hot, they'll move.
Next morning, same thing. She's lethargic, getting romped on by her siblings, and generally miserable. Sooooo, she gets more hours of human mama, which she seems to consider bliss. But still, the crying resumes when she's put back with the other rascals.
My African Grey parrot, ever the smart cookie, has decided that the path to cuddling appears to be incessant, annoying chirping. Talk about unforseen consequences. We'll deal with that down the road.
I decided to turn the heater up to 105F. Now, it probably isn't quite that warm inside the tank (probably at least 95F) on the other side of the glass. But I did notice last night, that the chicks, who usually sleep in a pile, were all instead lying on their bellies (under the cardboard), necks and wings outstretched, flat against the tank bottom. They were really enjoying the extra heat! And this morning, my cry baby was running around with the others, and making happy sounds instead of being miserable.
I hope, when I get home today I see further progress.
Moral of the story is: anecdotes are just that. I'm glad my common sense made me get that heater, regardless of a friend's experience. Being a contrarian might be fun, but the establishment does things a certain way for a reason.
Case in point. Now I have an acquaintance who has had a large part in steering my choices in this hobby. She had recently gotten some BO chicks (her firsts as well) from same supplier. I have grown to trust her on quite a few things, but in this instance I must change my tack.
I got my baby BO's this past Friday (all were vaccinated). For some reason, I got a free one with my half dozen, so seven in total. Despite trusting my friend, who claims she keeps her house at about 75-76 degrees, who swears she didn't have to heat hers at all (she even said when she turned on a heat lamp, they all immediately went to the other end of the cage, and never went back), I put a 22-watt reptile heating mat stuck to the bottom of the glass at one end of the tank. They are in a 40-gallon breeder aquarium, with lots of pine shavings, and a short cardboard "quonset hut mama" over the end that has the heating mat.
I set the thermostat to 80 degrees, and at first all seemed okay. They were all fairly timid at first, but I expected (maybe I shouldn't have? <--newbie) that. The first night, after a lot of eating and drinking, they dogpiled and slept in the bend of a towel I put in the cage, rather than go under the cardboard. Again, all seemed happy.
The next morning, six of them started their romp-and-roll routine. They seemed super happy. But one of them started with a constant cheep, cheep "mama" (I assume) cry. All day long. She would eat and drink (though not as much as the others), but what she really seemed to want more than anything was to be babied. It was somewhat heart breaking to watch her follow the others around, trying to get under their tiny wings. Of course they were like "um...leave me alone, runt". So I picked her up. Instant silence, wherupon she went to sleep against my chest, rousing only to poop on me every so often (gross lol).
When I would put her back, she would immediately start crying again. Since she was eating and drinking, I assumed she must just be an "I want mama" bird, she's cold (though the others didn't seem to be), or both. So I turned the heat up to 95F, thinking hey, if the others get too hot, they'll move.
Next morning, same thing. She's lethargic, getting romped on by her siblings, and generally miserable. Sooooo, she gets more hours of human mama, which she seems to consider bliss. But still, the crying resumes when she's put back with the other rascals.
My African Grey parrot, ever the smart cookie, has decided that the path to cuddling appears to be incessant, annoying chirping. Talk about unforseen consequences. We'll deal with that down the road.
I decided to turn the heater up to 105F. Now, it probably isn't quite that warm inside the tank (probably at least 95F) on the other side of the glass. But I did notice last night, that the chicks, who usually sleep in a pile, were all instead lying on their bellies (under the cardboard), necks and wings outstretched, flat against the tank bottom. They were really enjoying the extra heat! And this morning, my cry baby was running around with the others, and making happy sounds instead of being miserable.
I hope, when I get home today I see further progress.
Moral of the story is: anecdotes are just that. I'm glad my common sense made me get that heater, regardless of a friend's experience. Being a contrarian might be fun, but the establishment does things a certain way for a reason.
