thistlewick
Songster
I was SO NERVOUS to do it, but all 13 of them were ignoring the brooder plate in my garage for days and days. It is WARM here in the Piedmont of North Carolina. The pop up pen I have is too small for 13 growing chicks and what's more, it has a zip closure so (1) I couldn't see them very well and (2) when I opened it, the big 3.5 week old chicks FLY OUT lol
So things needed to change.
We put together a small pen/run and got a rain/sun shade for over it, that just came in yesterday so we were off to the races to get them swapped over from the pop up brooder. They were excited for grass, but I did the swap near bedtime (my bad) and they were nervous in the new surroundings and colder than they have been in their lives.
About an hour or so after sundown, I just didn't feel right about the open sides of the pen, so hubby, who cares very much for the little buggers and has wonderful problem solving ideas, came up with creating a 'coop' of sorts on one side of the pen, covered with cardboard and (my idea) a blanket. Once we did that, they settled right down and had a quiet night. I still have my camera out on them and could check in -- the sounds of the night would unsettle them a little, but it's noises they have to get used to. But making a sort of coop on one side and a pen on the other (out in the sun/air) really was the way to go.
The brooder plate is out there, of course, and they all huddled under it and this morning, right at sunrise, the SMALLEST chick was the first to wake and go out to eat. She is also our bravest little one, a Sapphire Gem, the slowest to feather but absolutely fearless.
I slept in (we had stayed up til 1am worrying over them in the camera (also maybe watching Bridgerton lol)) and went out to visit with them this morning with my coffee and they are all fine. Our big Cream Legbar girls (who have loads of feathers already) seem to mother the 4 smallest chicks we have, they let them cuddle and huddle underneath them already. It's adorable. Our big Jersey Giant girls just ignore them, but none of them are nasty to the little ones, and never have been. So it's a blessing.
So tonight will be colder by about 5 more degrees (down to 50). We have a cloth (human) heating pad we are toying with the idea of putting down under the brooder for them to cut on at 4am for a 2 hour warm up. Do you think we should do that? Or do you think the cuddlepuddle will do the job again?
After tonight, it won't dip below 60 degrees anymore.
So things needed to change.
We put together a small pen/run and got a rain/sun shade for over it, that just came in yesterday so we were off to the races to get them swapped over from the pop up brooder. They were excited for grass, but I did the swap near bedtime (my bad) and they were nervous in the new surroundings and colder than they have been in their lives.
About an hour or so after sundown, I just didn't feel right about the open sides of the pen, so hubby, who cares very much for the little buggers and has wonderful problem solving ideas, came up with creating a 'coop' of sorts on one side of the pen, covered with cardboard and (my idea) a blanket. Once we did that, they settled right down and had a quiet night. I still have my camera out on them and could check in -- the sounds of the night would unsettle them a little, but it's noises they have to get used to. But making a sort of coop on one side and a pen on the other (out in the sun/air) really was the way to go.
The brooder plate is out there, of course, and they all huddled under it and this morning, right at sunrise, the SMALLEST chick was the first to wake and go out to eat. She is also our bravest little one, a Sapphire Gem, the slowest to feather but absolutely fearless.
I slept in (we had stayed up til 1am worrying over them in the camera (also maybe watching Bridgerton lol)) and went out to visit with them this morning with my coffee and they are all fine. Our big Cream Legbar girls (who have loads of feathers already) seem to mother the 4 smallest chicks we have, they let them cuddle and huddle underneath them already. It's adorable. Our big Jersey Giant girls just ignore them, but none of them are nasty to the little ones, and never have been. So it's a blessing.
So tonight will be colder by about 5 more degrees (down to 50). We have a cloth (human) heating pad we are toying with the idea of putting down under the brooder for them to cut on at 4am for a 2 hour warm up. Do you think we should do that? Or do you think the cuddlepuddle will do the job again?
After tonight, it won't dip below 60 degrees anymore.
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