What Breed are these?

[junebuggena]

Maybe your brooder is too warm. They need a warm zone and a cool zone so they can learn to regulate their body temperature. The warm zone should be about 95 for the first week, and then lower the temp each week by about 5*.

 

[Johnhutch]

Ok I will try that... You could be right because I was constantly adjusting their heater.... I'm going to put them in a bigger brooder today...

 

[Johnhutch]

I have added 3 wyandottes and 2 RIR which are a week old as of last Tuesday. My black australorp and leghorn have made it to 2 1/2 weeks. My next batch of chicks are coming from tractor supply...

 

[Johnhutch]

So increased the size of brooder to 21 1/2 x 15... Housing 6 chicks... Do you think this is big enough. I'm using a storage tub. I have larger ones if this doesn't work. They're in the house until they are about 5 weeks. Should be quite warmer outside by the end of March.

 

[junebuggena]

It will be fine for a few more days. Keep in mind that they will double in size each week, and their space requirements double with them. At 1 week old, they need about a a 1/4 of a sq ft. each. By 2 weeks they need about 1/2 a sq ft each. And by 3 weeks old, they need at least a 1 sq ft per chick.

 

[Johnhutch]

So if I did the math correctly that is a total of 315 sqft and 45 sqft for each.... I have a 250 watt heat lamp, so I'll see how the next few days go.

 

[junebuggena]

At this point in time, you need about 4 to 4.5 sq ft for all of them. By the time they are about 6 weeks old, their growth rate slows dramatically. By then, 6 to 8 sq ft per chick is plenty.

 

[Johnhutch]

Thank you so much for your help and support....it's like I'm a mother all over again....

 

[Johnhutch]

Help help... One of my babies is sick I think. She is smaller than the rest, same age, she is not moving much, one of her foot seems to be bent and when she does move she kinda rolls. Ive separated her from the rest an am trying to coax her to eat and drink water. I'm not sure what else I can do...

 

[Johnhutch]

Ok found a link about crooked toes for baby chicks, and applied a sole shoe as well as a cast using sports tape to straighten the curled toe. Unfortunately I didn't notice it earlier and she is very weak from not eating or being able to get to water. I can only pray that she makes it through the night.