Working Full Time and Baby Chicks - Doable?

[fuzzi]

Where do you plan to brood them, inside your house or outside in a pen/coop?

Depends on the weather, and when the coop is ready for them.

I'd like to keep them in the house, but have both a cat and a dog that would probably be very inquisitive. I don't have a spare room to keep them in, it would have to be in the den.

I do have a big shed that might work. It's got electricity and I could rig a lamp, but I'd feel a little nervous about leaving the light on all the time while I'm away.

 

[fuzzi]

Do you have a rural king near you? They stock earlier and for a long period of time. I got chicks in oct.

Nope. We have Agri Supply and Tractor Supply.

 

[fuzzi]

Very helpful responses, thank you all.

I haven't gotten a brooder yet. I have some clear plastic totes, but they aren't big enough, 20x13x13. I also have a 29 gallon aquarium I'm not using, 12x30x18" high. That might work for a week or so.

I was eyeing the pumpkin/melon display at Aldi's yesterday.

 

[SourRoses]

Very helpful responses, thank you all.

I haven't gotten a brooder yet. I have some clear plastic totes, but they aren't big enough, 20x13x13. I also have a 29 gallon aquarium I'm not using, 12x30x18" high. That might work for a week or so.

I was eyeing the pumpkin/melon display at Aldi's yesterday.

Having a lot of fish tanks myself, a 29 gallon won't do it, even for just a few chicks. I once brooded in a 40 gallon, didn't like it because they outgrew the space so fast, and it was easy to overheat.

If you won't be there to monitor, I really think you need to supersize the space so they have more choices to adjust their temperature. Think the size of a 100 gallon.
A stock tank works. We built our current brooders of wood and HW Cloth.

And they will be growing like crazy. For a little while it's fine and then you walk out there one day and they look like a popcorn kernel bag you stuck in the microwave.

 

[VanillagorillaGardens]

Totally doable! You got this! I leave my house for work at 6am and get home around 4, my morning routine consist of getting ready then checking on the babies, making sure they have food and water and do a butt check(for pasty butt) sometimes I'll top off food and water at night. I currently have 6 babies that are now about a week old. Once they get bigger you will want to cover your brooder so they can't escape

 

[VanillagorillaGardens]

Very helpful responses, thank you all.

I haven't gotten a brooder yet. I have some clear plastic totes, but they aren't big enough, 20x13x13. I also have a 29 gallon aquarium I'm not using, 12x30x18" high. That might work for a week or so.

I was eyeing the pumpkin/melon display at Aldi's yesterday.

I use a stock tank like they use at the farm stores, it was a pricy initial investment ($100) but it will last me forever, ive brooded 4 flocks of chicks this way, when they get big enough to get out I cover it with a scrap piece of hardware cloth I have

 

[fuzzi]

I saw pictures online of dog crates used as brooders, with cardboard added to the sides. I already have a dog crate that we stored in the shed, And it would keep my dog and cat from getting too close. A little screening would probably be a good addition, too.

 

[VanillagorillaGardens]

I saw pictures online of dog crates used as brooders, with cardboard added to the sides. I already have a dog crate that we stored in the shed, And it would keep my dog and cat from getting too close. A little screening would probably be a good addition, too.

That's a great idea especially because you already have a crate

 

[3KillerBs]

First day or two, if you can swing it, plan to be home.

Yes. This is why I always plan to hatch on Sundays.

I haven't gotten a brooder yet. I have some clear plastic totes, but they aren't big enough, 20x13x13. I also have a 29 gallon aquarium I'm not using, 12x30x18" high. That might work for a week or so.

I saw pictures online of dog crates used as brooders, with cardboard added to the sides.

WAY TOO SMALL!

Granted these figures are for standard-size birds, not bantams, but the recommendations are,

For the first week or so, 1/2 square feet per chick.
For the next couple weeks, 1 square foot per chick,
Up to 6-12 weeks, 2 square feet per chick.
After that, the full 4 square feet per adult.

The figures aren't firm because birds, climate, and management systems vary, but I have chicks off heat and integrating into the flock as early as 3.5 weeks in hot weather and I always find that they use every inch of space available.

Also, aquariums are heat-death traps unless they can be VERY tightly monitored.

If you can possibly brood outside in the coop that's probably the best option. They get plenty of space and plenty of fresh air (coop should be designed to eliminate drafts at floor level even in our warm climate).

Yes, a heat lamp *can* be a fire hazard. But if used in a safe manner -- hung by a chain, correctly adjusted, at a proper distance from anything flammable -- it can also be an excellent choice for raising chicks.

 

[fuzzi]

Yes. This is why I always plan to hatch on Sundays.





WAY TOO SMALL!

Granted these figures are for standard-size birds, not bantams, but the recommendations are,

For the first week or so, 1/2 square feet per chick.
For the next couple weeks, 1 square foot per chick,
Up to 6-12 weeks, 2 square feet per chick.
After that, the full 4 square feet per adult.

The figures aren't firm because birds, climate, and management systems vary, but I have chicks off heat and integrating into the flock as early as 3.5 weeks in hot weather and I always find that they use every inch of space available.

Also, aquariums are heat-death traps unless they can be VERY tightly monitored.

If you can possibly brood outside in the coop that's probably the best option. They get plenty of space and plenty of fresh air (coop should be designed to eliminate drafts at floor level even in our warm climate).

Yes, a heat lamp *can* be a fire hazard. But if used in a safe manner -- hung by a chain, correctly adjusted, at a proper distance from anything flammable -- it can also be an excellent choice for raising chicks.

Dog crate too small? It's 3'x2'x2'.