TOMORROW I get baby chicks!! Is my brooder ready? (with pics)

[Eri_Oak]

The day is finally here that I get to go pick up my first little chickies! TOMORROW can't come soon enough!
The brooder seems so simple...and then I start getting nervous about a million little things

Are there any tweaks I should make before the babies go in it? There will be five of them - four various colored egg layers, and one Welsummer.

The outside is a 42x28 in wire dog kennel. Inside is a cardboard box that's just a little smaller than the kennel. I'm using the box so they can't get their little heads stuck while they're tiny, and also because I have a prey-driven dog and need to teach her that chicks are not toys I plan to remove the box as soon as it seems safe to do so, which will give them a little more room.

The floor is hemp bedding. I have a brick to raise the food up, and a branch for playing as soon as they're big enough - or should these just go in now? I have the heating plate a little lower in the back than in the front.

Feeding fermented food, if that matters for anything. Was thinking that I would just open up the little plastic feeder so it's more like a trough, if needed.
Am I ready??? Any changes I should make?? Give me all your brooder wisdom!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

We've all fretted that everything was OK.
It looks ready.
You'll eventually end up raising the feed and water or they'll continue to kick shavings in both.
Welsummers are egg layers too. What breeds are the others?

 

[Eri_Oak]

Welsummers are egg layers too. What breeds are the others?

Thank you for the encouragement!

The others are "colored egg layers" - two azure eggers, one sage egger, one cocoa egger!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What hatchery are they coming from? Those are chickens that lay different colored eggs but they are not breeds. I imagine the azure are araucana or ameraucana. The cocoa is probably a Marans.
Welsummers should lay dark brown eggs too.

 

[Eri_Oak]

What hatchery are they coming from? Those are chickens that lay different colored eggs but they are not breeds. I imagine the azure are araucana or ameraucana. The cocoa is probably a Marans.
Welsummers should lay dark brown eggs too.

They are coming from Alchemist Farm, which is a small family-run sustainable farm in Northern California. https://www.alchemistfarm.com

Here's some info on the birds!

Azure eggers: These birds are a product of a special breeding project that is now 5 years in the making. The result is a breed that reveals its gender upon hatch so we can guarantee you females.

The genetic makeup of these birds consists of Welsummers, Cream Legbars, and Sage eggers. Every year the line shifts a bit in terms of egg color produced, in 2019 our line was producing hens that created solid blue eggs, in 2020 our line has shifted and the hens will be producing more dynamic and unique eggs that can range from blueish to greenish eggs, sometimes with speckling over the top. A small group of these birds will yield a fun and varied daily egg collection. The Azure eggers provide the complimentary lighter blue shade in the egg basket while our Sage eggerswhich bring a lovely green that is a few shades darker with speckles.

Chicks are autosexing and follow the feather patterns of cream legbars as chicks: a white dot on the head means male and an unbroken chipmunk stripe down their back means female.

Sage eggers: We have shifted our Sage Egger breeding group around to be able to tell the gender of the Sage Egger chicks. We can now guarantee females of this breed.

Our Sage Eggers are one of our most versatile groups we work with on the farm.

They are one of our signature breeds that we brought to market in 2015 and they will continue to be offered for years to come because they are fantastic layers.

We love our sage eggers for the wide range of egg colors and speckling patterns they can produce. True workhorses of the flock, they produce 6-7 eggs a week in spring and continue to lay strong through the summer and fall. Predator wise and intelligent, these birds know their way around the barnyard and are excellent foragers.

These beauties lay green eggs that have anything from gentle white speckling over top to dramatic brown spots – every hen is unique in her laying pattern and will continue to lay in that pattern throughout her life.

Our sage eggers will produce an egg that is a lighter shade than a typical olive egger, their eggs will help you expand the rainbow in your daily egg collecting basket. Sage eggers are a hybrid unique to alchemist farm that combines a few different breeds to produce a hen that is the highest production bird we offer.

The roosters are stunning and cause everyone to stop and ask what breed they are. Hens have lovely sweet personalities and the roosters are excellent with the hens. Sage eggers are a medium framed bird that will produce a regular sized egg.

Cocoa egger: We are constantly tinkering with our breeding groups genetics to see what interesting colors we can get our hens to produce. For 2020 we have a new and beautiful shade of coco that has emerged and we have decided to call the line of birds our Cocoa eggers!

Cocoa eggers are large sturdy birds that are black and sometimes blue in body type. They lay well in the colder months and will produce handsomely through the spring. They maintain the same lovely disposition that we aim for all of our breeding groups to have and they get along with all other breeds well.

The shade of brown these birds are producing is different from Marans eggs in that they do not have any red undertone. In the photo below you can see one Marans egg on top of the Coco eggers for comparison. Marans eggs are smooth and almost have a shine to them while our Cocoa eggers are matte and soothing to the touch.

Cocoa egger chicks are sold straight run, we cannot guarantee you the gender of your chicks. If your chicks grow up to be females their eggs will add a whole new layer of color depth to your daily egg collecting basket. Males will carry the cocoa gene for your future breeding projects if you are so inclined!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I get you.
So these are lines of birds they developed from other breeds.
I'm sure you'll be very happy with them.

 

[Eri_Oak]

I get you.
So these are lines of birds they developed from other breeds.
I'm sure you'll be happy with them.

Yes, exactly. Thank you for the encouragement

 

[Thechicksdigme]

Your brooder looks good to me. They will outgrow it fast though.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Looks good for now though I'm betting that waterer is going to become a splash zone, with the way the cup is angled (which I'm sure is deliberate, but it just looks wonky). If it causes too much spillage in the brooder you can always raise it by an inch and see if that helps.

Fermented feed may not work great in that style of feeder (mostly the mess factor, since it tends to stick to things), though with very young chicks I also wouldn't want them stomping around in it, so if you're going to use that for fermented feed, I would NOT open it up.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Looks good. Put a shallow dish under the water cup - or even an upturned square lid from a piece of tupperware. They WILL make a mess of things, and you may have to train them to it if its one of the "push to dispense" models. I can't tell from the photo, and don't own a similar product. Well, I do, but they are horizontal watering cups, and I had to train my birds to it. A few still haven't figured it out, but I have three different water sources, sometimes 4, in the run, so its not critical.

Your babies look well and truly pampered. All the best to you and yours.