Woohoo! We have chicks!

[Heather8183]

A few questions I can't seem to find the answers to using the search function...

We're putting the chicks in a giant Rubbermaid Tote until they get a little bigger. Can we put newspaper on the bottom and cover it with the shavings? I've read somewhere (and can't find it now) that you shouldn't use newspaper at ALL. What's the story?

Also, we have a red heat lamp. Can we just put it over the tote and the chicks will move to where the temperature is comfortable or does it need to be a certain distance from the chicks? I know I've seen that it should be 95* but where? Directly under the light?


Thanks so much for your help!!!

 

[math ace]

95 degrees directly under the light and decrease the temp by 5 degrees each week. The chicks need to be able to get away from the heat if they get too hot.

We put a themoneter in the brooder and hung the light how ever far away we needed to in order to get the right temperature.

You probably need to do a search for sprindle legs (and I don't know if I spelled it correct) to get the information on newspapers as bedding.

 

[countrychix]

I hang my brooder light on an old floor lamp stand adjusting the height so that the temperature on the thermometer reads 95 at the bottom of the box. Make sure you secure the brooder with something in addition to the clamp, as the clamp will slowly settle (or fall off) and you could cook your chicks, or worse, start a fire. My chicks hatched out yesterday and today. I moved them into a large dog crate and I know the temp is not at 95, maybe 90 or so but they seem to be doing fine. I couldn't get the lamp any closer due to the height of the crate and I just had way too many chicks for anything smaller.

 

[ryanhodapp]

i have read that too that newspaper is bad. But I do have it under my pine shavings where they cant reach it. if they scratch all the way down, need to reccover. papertowels are recommended.

we have ours in an open wire frame dog cage. I think at night they would prefer more of a nesting box.
anyone have an opinion about that?

we also have one that sits more than the others. is that personality or something wrong?

thanks,

 

[Qi Chicken]

Most people recommend using papertowels for the first week. The newspaper can be slippery and young chicks sometimes will eat shavings and get an impacted crop. They say to give them a week without shavings to know what food is. I put shavings in after about 5 days and they did eat them right away. They still are eating them. I would wait the full week. It is also a LOT less dusty and easier to clean.

It should be 95 or so under the light. How close to the tote it is will depend on lots of things, room temp, bulb wattage etc. Just make sure the temp UNDER the light is 90-95. Mine thought 95 was too hot. Even in a draft free room I had trouble regulating the temp. It went from 85 to 108 with no changes in the light. I don't know why. Just watch the chicks. If they pile up on top of eachother and peep loudly under the light they are too cold. If they stay away from the light they are too hot. If they pile up and sleep quietly they are ok. They should wander all over the brooder during the day.

Good luck. They are so seriously cute when they are little like that. Hold them and play with them a lot because 3 weeks from now they will be gawky and bite. (OK, maybe that's just mine!)

Take lots of pics too, they do change SO SO fast.

Have fun!

I don't know why the one chick is sitting more than the others. That doesn't sound right. I might give that one some polyvisol without iron (kids vitamin drops) in the water. Not sure of the strength. You can search it.

 

[Heather8183]

Thanks so much, everyone for the fast answers! We're working on getting the temp right now.

 

[jossanne]

I kept a thermometer in my first-ever chicks, but don't even worry about it anymore. I have a rubbermaid tub as a brooder, and hang the red light with twine on the bar of my sons' unused weight bench above it. As the temperature fluctuates during the day, I just roll the bar and it wraps the twine around it, raising and lowering the lamp. If the chicks are huddled right under the lamp I lower it. If they're all staying away from the heat, I raise it. If they're scattered around happily, the temperature is right.

I keep shavings in my brooder, and just cover it with paper towels for a day or two. I've never had a problem with chicks eating the wood shavings. I sprinkle the feed around on the paper towel at first so that they can easily and quickly find feed, and once they're used to eating out of the feeder, I take the paper towels out and leave only the shavings.