Wet ten day old chicks, hand sanitizer and transitioning to the barn

[SandraMort]

Edit: This post is primarily about my *freedom rangers*, not cornish cross birds. Just in case it wasn't clear below...

Not sure where else these go...

1) Last night, I noted that the waterers were low but most likely enough to take them through to morning. I was very tired and figured I'd fill them in the morning. This is important to mention because there was no surplus water.

The chicks are in a brooding area in an unheated room with many windows, none of which are open. It has heat lamps, of course, but they're not overheated. And it was raining last night, which is important because it tells the humidity level.

When I went to look at them this morning, they were out of water (as expected) but almost every single bird was damp. They looked as if they'd been in the rain or been in the bath.

What on earth could have caused it?

2) I don't always have time to wash my hands thoroughly after handling the birds, so I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer. Will this kill anything they might be carrying or do I have to scrub my hands every single time I touch the birds? I have small children to think about.

3) I've got two month old layers, 99 10 day old broilers and two scovies (as big as all of the rest of them together). I am starting off with one cleaned out stall in the barn and a small run and expanding as time allows, but in the meantime, what's the best way to integrate the flock? The broilers don't like the layers, it seems, and I'm afraid of the ducks accidentally hurting the chicks!

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
You do not want 99 broilers in with your layers. In about 2 weeks you are going to be so over come by poop that you will seriously want to sit down and cry. The broilers stink and get stinkier. They will keep their coop/run/tractors so full of sopping wet poop you will be cleaning and shoveling or moving the tractor daily.

They will out grow the laying hens so quickly you will literally see them change over night from one day to the next.

If you keep other birds in with 99 broilers (especially if they are cornish x) you will begin to have some problems.

You do not want to eat eggs from hens living in broiler chicken conditions.

The ducks are better off with their own place. They love water too much and will leave a soupy mess no matter what you do. If mixed with broilers you are asking for putrid conditions and I would suspect there may be some infections that could develop in the meat chickens. Their feathers often don't grow in fast. They lay around alot and with poop and water their breast feathers will begin to rot off.

You are going to need a BIG space for 99 broilers. If they are cornish x you will need an even larger place.

Please do not mix other fowl with them unless you are willing to risk the loss of life of many.

 

[SandraMort]

As a note, my husband discovered the hard way that googling "WET CHICKS" is not a useful way to gather information.

 

[SandraMort]

Quote:
OK. They didn't really seem to get along too well. Not integrating them makes that easier. How about:

Two layers in the dog crate in the mud room, where the ducks currently are.
Ninety nine broilers in the brooder in the barn in stall 1
Two ducks in the REST of stall 1
One pen oustide of stall 1 for the ducks to romp until they get used to where we are & can wander safely
Once the broilers are old enough, they can go to the run to get used to the property until THEY are old enough to free range

Then somehow I'll still need to figure out how to get them and the layers to get along, since everybody will be ranging.

They will out grow the laying hens so quickly you will literally see them change over night from one day to the next.

Oh, I can see that already. It's amazing. Last night, they didn't stuff themselves silly for the first time and I couldn't figure out why. Turns out, my mother fed them in the middle of the night, so the feeders weren't empty when I got up. So much for not stuffing themselves! LOL

You do not want to eat eggs from hens living in broiler chicken conditions.

Even if they're all free ranged?

The ducks are better off with their own place. They love water too much and will leave a soupy mess no matter what you do.

Are muscovies that much different? I'm not noticing huge messes.

You are going to need a BIG space for 99 broilers. If they are cornish x you will need an even larger place.

Even though they're free ranging all day? The plan was to keep them in the barn with at least an 18x24 run outside, then having them free range most of the day.

Please do not mix other fowl with them unless you are willing to risk the loss of life of many.

Thank you.​

 

[MissPrissy]

Just wait and see. LOL Honestly no one can tell you about the broilers. It is an experience in itself and one you have to live through the first time. Then you become an expert. LOL

The hens should be fine free ranging. I thought you meant to put them in the pen with with broilers.

 

[SandraMort]

You know, I was thinking. There are three stalls and each as a door to the outside. I could put smaller runs outside each door and not worry about them mixing, as they get older. This doesn't solve the whole problem of when they're free ranging, but it postpones it for a few weeks.

So, how's this sound:

This weekend, I put the broilers' brooder in one corner of stall1 and the ducks in the rest of the stall, with a small run outside.

Soon I clean out stall3, put another, larger, run outside that, put the layers and ducks there, making sure that I keep it clean enough for the layers, since it's a giant stall and only four small birds.

Eventually I clean out stall2, move the ducks there, put another run outside its door.

Next month, after the bulk of the layers arrive, I put the brooder in stall 1 with the older layers. Not sure about integrating them.

That only leaves the small number of cornish crosses to deal with when they arrive with the layers next month.

 

[SandraMort]

Quote:
I guess so! This whole experience has been very educational!

The hens should be fine free ranging. I thought you meant to put them in the pen with with broilers.

Yes, but they're not old enough yet, they're only fist sized birdlets.​

 

[patandchickens]

My observation with my own 3 wk old broiler chicks is that there's a real limit to how much they are going to 'free range'. They are not the most ambitious souls in the world. Thus, no matter how much area is available, the part around today's feed and water, and shelter, is going to get trompled and pooed the *heck* out of it.

I also wonder how long it would take for a hawk to notice 99 big white broiler chicks and think "Buffet!".

Good luck,

Pat, *amazed* at how fast CornishX grow (literally, they are bigger in the evening than they were in the morning)

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
For many people I think they have to experience it to really believe what we tell them. LOL

 

[SandraMort]

Pat -- Those observations may be true for cornish cross, but I was under the impression that they were not for Freedom rangers. I only have seen them for 10 days so far, but they never stop running around and playing. And they're cream through brown, all variations. I think they'll be better for ranging than cornish x.