Very new to this...just bought chicks today

[keithfamily]

My 8 yr. old son has had a major interest in raising chicken lately, so we went to the feed store and he bought 4 chicks and some supplies. I did some reading here and talked to a few chicken owners to make sure it was something we could handle. I know that I will be full of questions because I am so ignorant about all of this but my first is:

1) Will they stop chirping tonight. Since they are birds I thought they would go to sleep.
2) I have them under a lamp, but we live in Louisiana and the room they are in is warm. Do they need it?
3) Do I need to anything at night for them. In the day they just roam in the little room.

Thanks everyone. I don't think I would have let my son take this adventure without this forum.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
they should settle down but make sure there is enough heat for them (i dont know how hot Louisiana is) My chicks settled down in a few days

are they in a brooder or in some sort of caging or are they roaming all over the room?

 

[RAWR]

1)yes, they will stop to sleep lol
2)i would keep them under a lamp at night. how warm does it get at night?
3)and i would keep them in a box..

 

[Imp]

from Washington

Congrats on the chicks

Imp

 

[gocrow77]

AND... to the addiction! You will likely be getting more chicks soon if the addiction hits you, or your spouse, or your kids....

 

[RAWR]

lol if theres any questions, theres a couple advise things on here that have some really goood answers lol and feel free to go find a chicken book lol
also,
GOOD LUCK with your chickies!

 

[keithfamily]

they should settle down but make sure there is enough heat for them (i dont know how hot Louisiana is) My chicks settled down in a few days

are they in a brooder or in some sort of caging or are they roaming all over the room?

Without the a/c (which this room doesn't have any) it gets to about 78 degrees at night.

I am just new to this, I don't even know what a brooder is. I am assuming it is something to keep them in. All we were keeping them in is an open box, but they kept trying to get out, so now we are just letting them roam the room.​

 

[coffeelady3]

The temp, and whether or not you need the lamp, depends on the chicks age. The first week you want them to be at 90-95 degrees or so. Every week after that you want to adjust the lamp so the temp drops 5 degrees. For example, at 3 weeks, dropping 5 degrees a week, the temp should be around 80. If it's that hot outside, for goodness sakes turn the lamp off. The chicks behavior will also give you an indication of whether the temp is right. If they are all huddling as close to the light as they can, then it's too cold. If they are spread out as far from the light as they can possibly get, then it's too hot. you want them to be comfortably wandering around. Mine are 4 weeks old now, and the weather's nice enough that I turn off the lamp during the day, but I still keep it on at night.

Let the chicks be your guide!

 

[SimplyForties]

You might review the brooder thread (sticky at the top of this forum) for dozens of photos of people's brooders. Everything from cardboard boxes to chickie Taj Mahal's!

 

[dun chick]

For a brooder for now get a large storage container(like a rubbermaid) that you would store clothes in. You can get them at walmart for about 5-10.oo. Some people also use a kiddie pool(w/o water of course), place a cardboard box to barricade from jumping out. Start thinking of somewhere to house them when they get older. Theres lots of ideas under the coop section.