How long to brood chicks?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

I have 22 chicks that are a 7 wks old. They are almost completely feathered out or look to be. I live in the south and temps are already on the rise here. Can someone please tell me how long I need to keep these little buggers separated and under heat lamps.

-- PoePoe (rpd932@yahoo.com), March 12, 2002

Answers

Sounds like they are old enough now. Up here where it's colder once they begin feathering I raise the heat lamp gradually so they can start adjusting to the temp. It all depends on your temps during the day and at night. Go ahead and raise the lamp several inches for today, then again tomorrow. You don't need to shock them all at once UNLESS the weather is nice and sunny and warm. They should try to get away from the heat lamp IF they are warm enough. Watch for that. If for some reason they are still cold, they'll be directly under the lamp. If it's nice and sunny outside,warm and not windy, let them out to run around for a bit. I always let my chicks at that age have an option. They could go out in the sun or they can come back under the lamp. Maybe the lamp just needs to be on at night now. Try a couple of things - I know I rattled on a bit- sorry.

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), March 12, 2002.

If they're pretty much fully feathered out and the night time low temperature isn't dropping into the thirties then they're ready to go out. If you've been keeping them very warm in the brooder this last week then begin tapering off on the heat until there is no supplemental heat at all. In the hen house protect them from direct wind and rain.

Mine are six-seven weeks old now and I turned off all the heat last week. In fact, they should have gone into the hen house last week but I haven't got the doggone thing finished yet.

......Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), March 12, 2002.


We have one chick that hatched on Jan 1. It has been in the field with the other chickens for a few days now and seems to be doing fine. The egg was incubated by a hen so I didn't have to worry so much about keeping it warm with a light.

-- LBD, Maryland (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), March 12, 2002.

Hatchery chicks that I keep in the house and not outside with the hens are kept in for 2 months, until they're totally feathered. My 10 square foot brooding area has a 100 watt light bulb in a bell (temp under the light is 88º) at one end, but the chicks rarely go near it. They're too busy running around!

Once outside, the chicks are kept in a pen for 3 weeks. Feed is always available. The free ranging birds can see the penned birds and vice versa thru the wire. This 3 weeks of jail time trains the birds to return to the pens at dusk to roost. When I open the gate, all the birds easily mingle.

I have no heat/no lights in the outside pens. Even with winter hatchings when the hens do the hatching and the birds are left outside, I've never lost a bird. These chicks are kept penned until they're totally feathered so they have protection against the weather when free ranging.

Works for me!

-- ~Rogo -south central Texas- (rogo2222@hotmail.com), March 13, 2002.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ