Their bodies learn over time to adapt to huge temp swings. We see 30 to 40 degree differences from day and night every day of the year. As yours grow, they will get used to it. Definitely offer heat at night until you find they don't need it anymore. They should be fine during the day without heat.
Straw is fine, it's warm and they tend to not eat it. But when it gets wet, it's nasty stuff. It's not incredibly absorbent either. So make sure to keep it clean and check for wet bedding often.
I have loads of it so I will change the brooder often. It will just be for 2 chicks.Straw is fine, it's warm and they tend to not eat it. But when it gets wet, it's nasty stuff. It's not incredibly absorbent either. So make sure to keep it clean and check for wet bedding often.
Perfect!
Great thanks! Will the producer pride be rider plate be enough? It puts out more heat on the heater vs brooder setting.
Definitely, at their age they are fully feathered. They are past the "brooding" stage and the supplemental heat is just to give them time to adapt. Some of them may not even need heat. You want them to adjust to cooler temps at this point, so a small amount of heat will be just enough to trigger the adaption mechanism, their internal heaters will kick in. Use the brooder plate, raise it up enough so they can use it if needed, only at night, they will do just fine.
time will tell- in my flock I could tell by the second or third week- they are definitely more bold and challenging and their combs and feet are bigger. Now that they are 7 weeks I can see the long skinny feathers around the collar area (hackle) and I see 5 maybe six out of the 18 that are almost 100% sure they are roos. Good luck!
Thank you SO much for this. I'm getting 10 more chicks next month (my second batch of chicks ever) and have been running this plan over and over in my head. I already decided against the lamp and bought a heating plate a few weeks ago. Now I'm going to do as you did. I definitely have the room to set it up similarly. You just let them loose with the big girls at 5 weeks?It's Chick Time and BYC suddenly awakens with eager newcomers seeking the sage advice of those who've been there before them. Getting those cute, tiny, helpless fluff balls can be very anxiety provoking. You just look at them and think, one false move and they're done for.
- What preparations do you make before hatching/buying chicks?
So you prepare. That means studying up on what things chicks require for safety, proper development, and over-all well being. Most people automatically think chicks are so fragile they need to be kept indoors in a box with a hot light on them, with a thermometer hung inside like an oven thermostat lest the tinys suffer a little cool-off and fall like a cake in an undependable oven.
Then later on, they are overwhelmed by the constant chirping, poop odors and dander and dust. "When can they move outdoors?" is the common question on the chick forum a few weeks into chick season. Well, I say move them outdoors from the very start!
I brood outdoors now. Gosh, it's so much better for everyone, especially the chicks. They start out where they're going to end up anyway, and there's no stressful adjustment later. They are installed with the adult flock and are accepted as members of the flock early on, making integration a breeze.
I use the heating pad system so no dangers of overheating, and the chicks establish natural day/night sleep patterns, contributing to their well-being. They harden off early to cooler temps, therefore they need no acclimatizing later on. And best of all, you have a clean house with no greasy dander to hunt down and clean up.
- Tell me about your brooder(s); Also, do you brood indoors or outdoors?
I section off a safe chick pen in the run. My run is covered and the sides are protected from the wind and weather. The chicks have their heating pad cave for warmth, and even when it's freezing at night and only in the 50s(F) during the day, they're just fine and manage to warm up when they need to.
They are growing up in proximity to the adults and learning every single minute from observing them. By the time they are given access at age two weeks by means of portals from their chick pen, they already understand which adults needs to be given a wide birth and which ones can be trusted.
By age five weeks, they are finished with their heating pad and can move into the coop with the big chickens. This method of brooding is so effortless and natural, it's really catching on here in the BYC community. I anticipate the day when plastic tote brooders with heat lamps will be laughed off the pages.
- How to raise healthy, strong chicks. (Supplements/Feed/Heat management, etc)
On day one, the chicks get Poultry Nutri-drench as a precaution and nutritional boost to combat any shipping stress and to get them off to a good start. I make a weak "tea" from it and the chicks drink it for their first week or so.
I feed my chicks fermented feed, but to start them off, I sprinkle dry crumbles on the ground to get them to want to eat. They scratch around and eat what they find and quickly graduate to the FF. I've found that, since chicks have a proclivity to swim in their food, a tiny container no more than a couple inches in diameter is best. I use the plastic cups the icing comes in that you get with those tubes of breakfast sweet rolls and I glue metal washers to the bottom to give them weight .
Growing up outdoors in proximity to the adult flock is the best way to insure healthy chicks since they are picking up immunities from their environment against disease, making them more disease resistant. Chicks brooded indoors miss this valuable "window", which closes after the first couple weeks. Chicks raised outdoors feather out quicker and are more cold hardy because of it. Best of all, there is very little stress involved as the chicks are integrated into the flock.
It's Chick Time and BYC suddenly awakens with eager newcomers seeking the sage advice of those who've been there before them. Getting those cute, tiny, helpless fluff balls can be very anxiety provoking. You just look at them and think, one false move and they're done for.
- What preparations do you make before hatching/buying chicks?
So you prepare. That means studying up on what things chicks require for safety, proper development, and over-all well being. Most people automatically think chicks are so fragile they need to be kept indoors in a box with a hot light on them, with a thermometer hung inside like an oven thermostat lest the tinys suffer a little cool-off and fall like a cake in an undependable oven.
Then later on, they are overwhelmed by the constant chirping, poop odors and dander and dust. "When can they move outdoors?" is the common question on the chick forum a few weeks into chick season. Well, I say move them outdoors from the very start!
I brood outdoors now. Gosh, it's so much better for everyone, especially the chicks. They start out where they're going to end up anyway, and there's no stressful adjustment later. They are installed with the adult flock and are accepted as members of the flock early on, making integration a breeze.
I use the heating pad system so no dangers of overheating, and the chicks establish natural day/night sleep patterns, contributing to their well-being. They harden off early to cooler temps, therefore they need no acclimatizing later on. And best of all, you have a clean house with no greasy dander to hunt down and clean up.
- Tell me about your brooder(s); Also, do you brood indoors or outdoors?
I section off a safe chick pen in the run. My run is covered and the sides are protected from the wind and weather. The chicks have their heating pad cave for warmth, and even when it's freezing at night and only in the 50s(F) during the day, they're just fine and manage to warm up when they need to.
They are growing up in proximity to the adults and learning every single minute from observing them. By the time they are given access at age two weeks by means of portals from their chick pen, they already understand which adults needs to be given a wide birth and which ones can be trusted.
By age five weeks, they are finished with their heating pad and can move into the coop with the big chickens. This method of brooding is so effortless and natural, it's really catching on here in the BYC community. I anticipate the day when plastic tote brooders with heat lamps will be laughed off the pages.
- How to raise healthy, strong chicks. (Supplements/Feed/Heat management, etc)
On day one, the chicks get Poultry Nutri-drench as a precaution and nutritional boost to combat any shipping stress and to get them off to a good start. I make a weak "tea" from it and the chicks drink it for their first week or so.
I feed my chicks fermented feed, but to start them off, I sprinkle dry crumbles on the ground to get them to want to eat. They scratch around and eat what they find and quickly graduate to the FF. I've found that, since chicks have a proclivity to swim in their food, a tiny container no more than a couple inches in diameter is best. I use the plastic cups the icing comes in that you get with those tubes of breakfast sweet rolls and I glue metal washers to the bottom to give them weight .
Growing up outdoors in proximity to the adult flock is the best way to insure healthy chicks since they are picking up immunities from their environment against disease, making them more disease resistant. Chicks brooded indoors miss this valuable "window", which closes after the first couple weeks. Chicks raised outdoors feather out quicker and are more cold hardy because of it. Best of all, there is very little stress involved as the chicks are integrated into the flock.
