New chicks coming end of the week - quick need a plan!

[babymunkey]

Hi there - am a newbie on this site, but have had chooks on and off for a few years now.

Anyway, my son's school decided to "rent an incubator" and buy some eggs to let the children see the eggs hatch. (you know where this is going already don't you!). The whole lot has to go back at the end of term this week, but they can rehome the chicks if they want or they get returned with the kit. So....at the end of the week I will have only 2 baby girl chicks (there were only 3 girls from 10 eggs - all the others boys and noone wants them - so sad!)

So, they will be about 3 weeks old - plan is to appropriate a dog cage into a brooder (never done this before) and keep them indoors for now. Do you think they will still need a heat lamp - nighttime temps forecast to be between 11/12 up to 15 for the next week, but of course they will be in doors, but there are only 2 of them so not much heat protection from huddling if they're cold I guess.

I have a small drinker I can use which I dont think they can fall in, plus will just use a cat bowl for food I think.

Anything else I need to think about? Will check on timings for them going out with the others later, plus am going to post another post about our plans for our flock bully that I will have to finally deal with before these 2 go out with the flock....

[Scarlet]

Chicks generally need heat especially at night until they are fully feathered. If you have them at 3 weeks old they really need a heat lamp.
Will you be keeping them in a garage/outhouse?
A cat food bowl for chick crumbs may well cause a lot of mess, they will walk I it and spread it everywhere.
Remember that they will need chick crumbs and then move onto growers pellets until laying age. It's not advised to introduce baby chicks to a flock, introduce when the birds are a similar size to the existing flock and they are eating the same food.

[babymunkey]

Thanks Scarlet!

I wasnt going to put the in with the others until POL - is that right? But I have a bully hen who is much physiacally bigger than the others who is also a feather puller - will start my other thread.

So the chicks - will be indoors in the house. Maybe heatlamp at night, and not in the day?

OK - so whats the best for feeding the chick crumb? Dont really want to buy a load of stuff, any suggestions for anything homemade that will do them for the few months til they go out with the others?

[Scarlet]

They will require heat day and night at 3 weeks. They won't have many feathers. Generally the first week is around 35, then drop by 3degrees weekly until they have feathers. A heat lamp bulb can cost around £8, this needs to be red to ensure they don't start pecking problems. To be honest, it's a lot of work and outlay for just two chicks. Much easier to buy in point of lay as rearing two birds isn't very cost effective. If you want to rear some perhaps you could buy in some more to spread the cost?
You can feed hard boiled eggs for a few days but you really need the starter and then move to the growers feed.
Keeping them indoors can also have its downsides, birds create a dust, especially when growing feathers, with their general scratching behaviour everything will have a layer of dust in a matter of hours and they really do smell!

[muddled]

I have always raised chicks in our dining room....and can vouch for everything Scarlet has said!

For water I fill the dish with marbles or small stones because when you 'think they can't climb in it' they generally can and try to drown themselves.
chick crumb feeders you can get from e-bay for just a couple of quid...
When you put the lamp in, if you put it at one side, the chicks can get away from it if they get too warm.
Have plenty of layers of news paper for the bottom of the brooder...if they're indoors you will be wanting to remove the top (pooey) layer several times a day
Be aware of how much noise they are going make....a cute peeping noise to start....then louder as they grow


Enjoy! it's magical watching them change and grow every day which I think you miss when they're outside....

One thing though...how certain are you that the ones you have are girls?

[babymunkey]

Thanks both - all good points.

So this is a one time thing, just because they came from school and I think it would be nice for the kids to see them grow through having seen them born. I'm happy with the mess and dust for what will be only a few weeks really. (OH might think differently!)

Deep breath - this is more involved than I thought but I've started so I'll finish!

Heat lamp bulbs - can they go in a normal angle poise lamp?

And re girls - ummm because school told me they were! (you are probably slapping your foreheads in despair at this point!) They are darker than the other chicks which are bright bright yellow, whereas they other 3 which they said were girls, have darker fluff. Didnt even think to question it as had assumed the information had come from the company who supplied the eggs/incubator/brooder etc.

[Scarlet]

Who's having the 3rd chick? Can you have that one too - strange to let one go on its own.
I also do the marble thing in the water,same as Muddled. I use those large coloured pebbles that you use for decoration in the bottom of a vase of flowers.
I don't think the bulb will fit in an angle poise. The fittings are different. Look at these. Perhaps you could borrow one?
Infra Red Heat Lamp Bulbs for chickens and other animals

[babymunkey]

Who's having the 3rd chick? Can you have that one too - strange to let one go on its own.[/url]

Thats bothering me too - I originally said I would have all 3, but then they said someone else wanted one. I'll make discrete enquiries but dont feel I can pry too much.

Thanks - have had a look - trying to do this without spending too much but make sure they are OK. Will have an ask around some chook friends tomorrow.

[muddled]

Some breeds of chicken have sex linked colours which means that boys are one colour, girls are another. However, these are generally not the cheapest option so I would be surprised (but pleased) if these were provided for a school incubator project. If they are sex linked then there are likely to be more boys than girls so it might be right.

Whatever, the ones that are returned will almost certainly be culled so be kind to yourself; the chicks you are bringing home stand a much better chance with you (even if you are feeling a bit overwhelmed)

I also wonder what happened to the third (hopefully) female chick.....

[kathyd]

The sex linked ones may be cream legbars - when you see your chicks you'll be able to tell if they're boys or girls, look for images on google. I don't know if any other breeds are autosexing, but maybe Muddled can tell us? I found the chicks developed hugely quickly - the mother hen had them dust bathing, scratching, preening, all within a couple of days. She also insisted on feeding them wheat instead of chick crumb from day 1 (until we stopped her), picking it out of her own feeder and dropping it for them, so be careful not to let anything big get into their cage because they'll have a go at anything! They may also like something to climb onto and hide under as they grow up a bit to keep them entertained - ours liked to flap onto the box which formed their 'house' and strut around seeing the world from a whole new angle.

[Glutton4...]

Hello, and welcome to the Madhouse - you'll fit right in!!

I used a loft water tank as a brooder - tall sides, so no wind, no dust! However, I had more than two chicks. I put the heat lamp one end, so they could regulate their own temperatures, and raised it a little each time when they moved away from it.
Cut the bottom off a plastic milk carton, and put clean stones in, they'll walk all over it, but still be able to dip their beaks in between the stones for water. Be prepard to have two bowls, and to change them regularly as they get bigger.
Chop up dandelion leaves and add to their scrambled egg meals, this will prevent any poo problems.

Hope this helps!

Oh, and try to get the third chick. Anyone who tries to raise one on its own is cruel/barmy, and if one of your two doesn't make it, you're gonna have one lonely chick too.

[babymunkey]

Thanks so much again all.

I've seen all the chicks, and the 3 "girls" are definitely a much darker colour than the other 7 who are all a bright bright yellow. And I know, have accepted the boys will not meet a happy end bless them, poor things.

I have made gentle enquiries, and have suggested that I at least have the 3rd chick until its ready to go to its new home - thats all I can do without seeming too bossy I think. I wanted all 3, but have to share!

So this is how we're doing so far....have decided to just buy a lamp and be done with it - this isnt just about money its for the kids to see the chicks through and we can take the full grown chickens back into school, give them the eggs etc so they can really see it through. the price of a lamp is a small one for that.



am hoping the photos work. The water is a small spare I had with stones in it, will buy a chick feeder tomorrow.


My last question is - chick crumb with anti-biotics or not?

[babymunkey]

Oooh forgot - will add newspaper and wood shavings to the bottom when they arrive and the lego construction is Harrison's idea - so they have somewhere to hide if they want plus I figured they can climb on it!

[muddled]

My last question is - chick crumb with anti-biotics or not?

I've never used the antibiotic ones but that wasn't based on any real knowledge....I just always buy organic feed for my chooks.
You need a few more stones for your waterer....so they can get their little beaks wet but nothing else and then I'd say you're fit to trot!

Excited much in your house?

[babymunkey]

V.Excited - me mostly!

So Hannah and Jacky have arrived (named after class teacher and headmistress!) and so far so good. Sadly the heat lamp I ordered in the local pet barn was huuuge despite me specifying it was for a dog cage and only 2 chicks, so they will have to cope tonight and I'll get to Countrywide tomorrow.

The cat is very perplexed, I will be shutting the chicks in the downstairs loo tonight JUST in case until I've watched him a bit more around them! And you were right re the noise - I suspect that once the lamp arrives they may end up in the shed sooner than anticipated!

Thanks all for your help, will get some pics up tomorrow...

H
xx