Bob Clark a few questions re:chicks

[kathyinmd]

Can I ask the time period between your first photos of the baby chick to the last photos?
They look like they grow very rapidly.

My DH ordered 25 chicks to be delivered May 15 and I’m starting to panic about the length of the time they will have to stay in the basement.

Do you think 50º on a cement floor is too cold???

Thank you.....kathyinmd

[bergere]

HI,

Are they going to be on the bare concrete? Or in a boxed off area with shavings as bedding?

They will need a source of heat,, normally from a heat lamp.

Here is a good bit of info.
Brooding
Have your housing prepared before the chicks arrive. You'll need a brooder to keep them in, its size depending on how many you're getting. If it's got wire sides it'll be drafty, so make a cardboard windbreak to keep around the chicks for the first week or so. If there are many chicks, it's best if this is circular so that they can't get stuck in the corners. If the area is large for the number of chicks, it's good to confine them this way near the heat so that they learn where the heat source is. I raise small numbers in old aquariums.

People often ask me if their chicks are OK, cause they're sleeping all the time. Be aware that chicks are babies . . . it is normal for them to sleep a lot.

Heat
For heat, be aware that chicks need 95 degrees for the first week. You can drop this by 5 degrees every week til they're 6 weeks old. Then they are fairly feathered out and unless you live in a very cold area, they are able to withstand normal temperatures. Note that only part of the brooder needs to be this temperature, as the chicks need to be able to cool off when their bodies need to.

If they are peeping a lot, and loudly, they are too cold!

If you don't have a formal brooder, your heat source is usually a lightbulb or heat-lamp. Be careful with these not to leave them low enough for the chicks to burn themselves. Also, especially with heat-lamps, be careful that the bedding can't catch fire.

For the rest go to..
www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKRaisingChicks.html

[bobclark]

I posted all photos the same day I took them. mine are in a stock tank and there is 4 inches of wood shavings under it to insulate between the concret then more shavings in the tank for bedding

Im not sure they need the shavings under the tank but we have an endless supply with the wood shop

they are growing very fast and will be going outside next week

[Deleted]

Bob an endless supply of wood shavings? how good for you. I failed to get enough before the first snow (oct 21) so now it is frozen and I have to use straw and hay... I added to my list to store much more shavings for next year.

I am a list maker and I review where I failed and make plans to improve things for the next season.

1. More shaviings.
2. 25 more buckets of sand (free kitty litter and sanding and brooding matterial

[kathyinmd]

Thank you all for the responses.

Bergere…after seeing bob’s photos,, I think I’m going to elevate the brooder off the floor a few feet to get them off the cold concrete.

Use either a child’s wading pool for a week or two and then transfer them to a large animal cage.
I would like to keep them in the wading pool but it is not that deep maybe twelve inches?

Yes I will have a heat lamp thanks for the reminder.

The chickens were DH’s idea. His philosophy is that’s how his Mom-Mom did it…well that was sixty years ago… My thoughts are you have to try to protect them as much as possible.. He doesn’t want to put a netting over the run even though we have large hawks and great horned owls. To me that’s cruel…

Thanks for the link.