broody mama and her babies had a terrible day yesterday. the local cat has decided to start picking off the chicks one by one so in a panic i have brought the remaining chicks inside into my brooder. mama chicken is not happy and is frantically pacing the fence boundries trying to escape now, to get her remaining babies back. but its too dangerous out there for them and cannot bring mama into the brooder! will she eventually calm down and go about buisness as usual or will she keep looking for her babies? also what temp should i be starting the chicks off at in the brooder? (they are 10 days old and 11 days old)
Can you try putting them all together in the brooder or in something more secure outside? where the cat can't get to her.
impossible. thats what we've just tried but the field is 200mx100m. we cornered off a section for them but the cows in the field just destroy the enclosure and i dont have the funds to spend on a cow proof enclosure thats only going to be used for a few weeks! the only option was to bring babies inor let them die. either way mama hen is upset.
In a day or two, Mama will get over it if you keep the chicks away from her. It's surprising how fast they can go from frantic mom to back with the flock. The rule is that you start out at a temperature of 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit and drop it by 5 degrees every week. So yours should be in the range of 85 to 90 degrees, but drop it another 5 degrees in a few days. I find they are happier if I keep one area in the brooder this temperature and let the rest cool down so they can find their own comfort zone. The important thing is to not have it too hot.
