AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[TanksHill]

Thank you, I was hoping you would.

So what is the correct heat supposed to be at chicken level? My dh has one of those clamp on lights in the garage I was thinking I could use that. But I guess I would need to see if the socket is ceramic or plastic.

what kind of thermometer do you use?

sorry for all the questions, but I usually start with pullets. I have actually never bought chicks under 1 month old before.

I guess I could get my Storey's guide out.

g

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

great work as always, FF!!

and after a while you can figure out the right "dispersal" pattern for the chicks and also if they are a heap of peeping misery.

we lost another meat today. her comb was very light the last day or so and we figure it was the end. i thing the light/bluish comb is the heart failure thing, right?

anyway its wildly frustrating b/c there isnt one thing to do about it. drat.

tanks - all good questions. you can get a brooder light at tractor supply (if you have those) and we even saw them at walmart once!

AL - great work on those chicks! you might want to get a bigger drinker, they'll really start picking up the pace. we cant believe how much water they go thru. we even had to get a 5 gallon drinker. wow!

 

[lorihadams]

Mine have 2 1 gallon waterers and I have to fill them 2-3 times a day.

I've started scattering their food around to avoid the stampede to the food bowl too....little buggers are HUNGRY in the morning cause I don't feed round the clock after about 3 weeks. I switch to 12 hours with and 12 without once they get most of their feathers.

I use a 100 watt light bulb in a brooder lamp to start with and once they get feathered out I switch to a 60 watt bulb only in the evenings when it is really cold....like last night...in the 30s, YIKES!

 

[AL]

I actually have a red light and a regular 60 watt. The pool is covered in hardware cloth, and the lamps have a "cage" to keep the frame from sitting flat (trapping a chick in with the bulb, if it was where the light could fall on them). I have a broom stick across the roof of their shelter and depending on their behavior (piled up peeping misery, as OFG said, or scattered, panting and wings raised) I can raise it or lower the red lamp via a wire coat hanger and baling twine.
The 60 watt I attach to the hardware cloth and shine towards the feed / water. It expands the warm area, but is not as warm as the red light. I also use deep litter, they love to scratch down and make little sleeping holes.
The coolest our weather has been is about 45 at night, and the chicks were all loosely piled / scattered and quiet (no "I'M COLD!" peeping).

This weekend we will be modifying the shelter so that I can take the pool out and just use the shelter as a big brooder. Then I will add a bigger waterer and feeder. I have a 4th quart font if I need it before then. Supposed to get in the upper 30s this weekend, so it will be a good time to put a new, fresh, deep layer of litter.

 

[TanksHill]

You guys are awesome, always a wealth of information.

Sorry for hijacking the journal!!!

g

 

[AL]

Hijack all you want!! I learn from your questions too

 

[Farmfresh]

Temps are supposed to be 90 F the first week and down 5 degrees a week there after. (But I almost always drop my meaties faster than that ) An interior/exterior thermometer (with the exterior sensor that is on a little wire) works great. They work good for incubators too! Anyway you can duct tape the sensor inside the brooder at chick level. OR I just use a cheap old exterior thermometer in mine.

I often also use a light timer when the chicks are older. A long time ago I found out that my chicks got scared and started piling on each other during a storm when we lost electricity. Now I occasionally turn the lights off for a few minutes so it won't be a big deal. As they get older I put on the timer and start acclimating them to brief cool spells and some darkness. They seem to do better.

 

[AL]

I found out the hard way how they freak out about the lights going off! WOW
Fortunately we only lost power for a minute or less, but I'm going to have to start introducing them to darkness some lol.

It has rained a steady drenching rain since about 3am. Just outside the barn the water is ankle deep. Buddy's feed pan was out in his little pen and it was full and overflowing.
My poor chickens were standing out in the rain looking pitiful, so I fixed a bunch of oatmeal for them and set it out in their house. I also tossed some BOSS on the ground inside for them. Silly birds still followed me back outside, but Rio helped me herd them back in (herding even though his sporting breed sorry... carryover from BYC).

The meaties were huddled under the lights, even though it isn't any colder than it has been before, so I put several handfuls of fresh litter under the lights and gave them some extra feed as well as a boiled egg (which they don't usually eat ). When I went back out this afternoon they were hustling about like normal. I think I will go tomorrow and buy another red bulb since it is supposed to get colder.

I have several small squash and tons of blossoms getting watered right now. Very happy about that. If it dries up in time I will gather pine straw to have available in case they forecast a frost. I will also have some old towels or sheets so I can cover them. I want my squash!

 

[TanksHill]

ok let me get this straight. We need to keep the lights on the birds all the time to keep them warm. But unlike natural life with a momma hen it does not get dark. so if by chance the light turns off the birds freak out?

this is getting complicated.

g

 

[AL]

LOL well, I had my layer chicks in the spring, so I didn't really use a light on them at all. I don't know if it is just franken-chickens that freak out or not. I keep a light on them all the time because it is so cool here - one light usually during the day, both lamps at night for warmth and light to eat by. Today I have both lights on.
When I had them in totebins in my bathroom I lost power and you could hear them doing the "I'M DYING!!!!" peeps. As soon as the power came back on they were content. We lost power last night, but I don't know how they did because I was finally in bed and didn't get up because it was so quick.
I don't know when or how I will start weaning them from it though, because it is too cool. I will probably just hope for the best and if we lose power I will have to bring them inside anyway.