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J. Rosseau wrote:Recently I covered one brooder with plastic sheeting/vapor barrier and fitted a furnace filter to an opening (it's what I had access to, but lots of other filters might work, charcoal filter would be nice to help with any odors). I then attached a small fan to the furnace filter to essentially pull air from the brooder through the filter and out into the room. Since you're aiming for May, you won't have winter to contend with. You could connect ducting to the fan and exhaust the whole thing outside (maybe through a window). The set up does not need to be complicated or expensive. Vapor barrier tape, vapor barrier, fan, furnace filter, a knife to cut the plastic, and maybe 10 mins of work! It may not be pretty, but it is worthwhile!
As for the window to outside - they may benefit from seeing outside, but maybe not. I'm not sure exactly how far into the distance they would be focusing and whether outside would really be any more stimulating for them than a window into your house. I would build perches into the brooder as soon as you can.
Jay Angler wrote:Good luck on your chicken adventure, Heather!
1. I'm assuming you're planning on layer chicks - you will need the cover to keep them in as they can helicopter straight up at a surprisingly early age. Meat chicks are less of a risk, but not no risk.
2. You haven't mentioned how you plan on keeping them warm. We originally used heat lamps, but shifted to under-floor heating so they had a natural "dark" period.
3. We've used a number of systems for bedding and are currently using burlap sacks. We've got a local Fair-trade Coffee company that sells their used organic sacks cheaply and my compost tends to be high in nitrogen, so having some "browns" in it are a good thing. One of the issue with chicks is that they tend to peck at *anything* and a tummy full of shavings isn't the best for them.
4. Where are they going once they need exercise? Chicks with actual moms, don't spend that much time during the day tucked under mom. They're up and active and then tucked under mom for nap-time and bedtime. They need to start off at about 90F, and getting chilled in the first week seems to lead to long term issues, so if you're relying on electricity, try to have a back up plan (lots of jugs full of hot water - been there, done that!) However, at least day-time temps should drop fairly quickly so that depending on the weather, you can have them outside by 4 weeks at least during the heat of the day if they're protected from wind and rain. Meat chicks get big so quickly, I try to at least be sending the bigger ones out into a run area for a few hours each day by 2 weeks of age.
5. As J. Rosseau says, "but quickly the dust seems to increase exponentially". The dust is definitely coming from the chicks themselves, and the more they're loosing and growing new feathers, the more dust will be present. Filtering may work, a filter than exits outside would be a help, but when I'm cleaning our brooder, I have a long hose for our shop vac and the vac is outside and I bring the hose in. If the birds end up in the brooder longer than intended (talk to Hubby about that one!!!) I make Hubby use the air-compressor to spray down the walls and ledges and everything up high, let is settle over night, and them go in to clean up.
Hopefully some of that info is helpful! They do make up for the mess factor by being cute and fun to watch - way better than the crap on TV!
"Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky."
The best place to pray for a good crop is at the end of a hoe!
Eight is not what I'd call "critical mass". For the first two weeks, chicks aren't very good at regulating their own temperature - that's mom's job. But even after than, a single mom has more mass than 8 fuzzballs, so ideally you'll get a thermometer with a probe on a wire (we reinforce ours with heat shrink, because chickens peck) to help you have a feeling for what the temperature is. If it seems they're too busy huddling for warmth to eat or drink, it's a problem. If they seem comfy under the heat plate at night, it would still be nice to be able to slide a probe under the area to see if it seems reasonable. If you're only worried about night lows, I'd cover part of the lid with old towels to keep the heat in as a first step.1.Yes, these will be layer chicks. Eight of them... We heat the house with wood, so it can get a little cool overnight. I'm wondering if they will need an additional heat source so the air temp is higher?
With only 8 birds, they should be fine for the first week. It's a moving target - the bigger and more active they get, the more they eat and poop. I've always read that they shouldn't be on anything slippery like paper as it can result in "Splay Leg", but if you notice there's an area that gets particularly mucky - like under the heat plate - if you look for nubbly paper towel and put that over the sacking and compost the old sheet daily/2 days depending on how mucky they are, that should extend things. We used to use pieces of thick fabric from an old sofa when we only had a small number of girls, and launder them and sun-dry them, but that's a *lot* more work and we're dealing with much larger numbers now.3.Burlap does sound like a good idea. How often do you find you have to change them out?
Absolutely! Just check the temperature and use that to judge how long. Even just giving them a 20 min run while you putter with some chore or other is great and they won't need the heat for that long, as they'll be too busy exploring. Getting them early, healthy exercise is important for long-term health - laying eggs is hard work! You want them to be building muscle, not fat, and with a mom, they'd be following her all around as she hunted for food for them.4.We are building them a cattle panel greenhouse as part of their run, so that they have a super secure area to hang out and stay warm and dry in colder weather. I'm imagining that weather permitting, maybe they'll be able to go out there for at least a few hours a day, probably with access to the plate brooder. Would it be good to give them some exercise time outside the brooder before they're old enough to go outdoors? We have a folding fence we picked up that could probably make that possible.
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Jay Angler wrote:With only 8 birds, they should be fine for the first week. It's a moving target - the bigger and more active they get, the more they eat and poop. I've always read that they shouldn't be on anything slippery like paper as it can result in "Splay Leg", but if you notice there's an area that gets particularly mucky - like under the heat plate - if you look for nubbly paper towel and put that over the sacking and compost the old sheet daily/2 days depending on how mucky they are, that should extend things. We used to use pieces of thick fabric from an old sofa when we only had a small number of girls, and launder them and sun-dry them, but that's a *lot* more work and we're dealing with much larger numbers now.
4.We are building them a cattle panel greenhouse as part of their run, so that they have a super secure area to hang out and stay warm and dry in colder weather. I'm imagining that weather permitting, maybe they'll be able to go out there for at least a few hours a day, probably with access to the plate brooder. Would it be good to give them some exercise time outside the brooder before they're old enough to go outdoors? We have a folding fence we picked up that could probably make that possible.
Absolutely! Just check the temperature and use that to judge how long. Even just giving them a 20 min run while you putter with some chore or other is great and they won't need the heat for that long, as they'll be too busy exploring. Getting them early, healthy exercise is important for long-term health - laying eggs is hard work! You want them to be building muscle, not fat, and with a mom, they'd be following her all around as she hunted for food for them.
"Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky."
The moth suit and wings road is much more exciting than taxes. Or this tiny ad:
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