Our chick go far on Friday , and now there are 10 crimson - and - yellow peeps in the life room . ( Their brooder have a good ignitor for when me ‘ n ’ Uzzi creeping in at night to use the computer . )
I compose about ourbrooderlast workweek but at the last minute , Mom and Dad settle to make a bigger one for this group of chicks . That ’s because each chick postulate about 6 square inches of blank space for its first 2 weeks of life-time . BecauseBuckeyechicks are bigger than Mom ’s old strain , the brooder we had would n’t be roomy enough for our new summation .
Dad made the new incubator on Wednesday , and Mom set it up on Thursday so it would be lovesome and comfortable when the chicks arrive . Baby dame need a safe , teetotal , draught - free home kept at a constant temperature of 95 level F for their first week of life , then 5 degrees F less rut per week until they ’re 4 week old . A warm , well - ventilate brooder is their thoroughgoing nursing home .
Photo by Sue WeaverOur new doll hail in a box deliver to the post office .
mum put down sure-enough , shortly - napped dish towels for turn in so the chicks ’ foot would n’t slip ; she ’ll replace the towel with dry Mrs. Henry Wood shavings early this hebdomad . She also mixed loot into their drinking water at 1/2 loving cup per gallon to give them a boost of DOE and store the covered jug on the counter so it would be way temperature ( that ’s what peeps prefer ) when the chicks arrived .
A nice lady at the post office forebode as soon as the box of peep come . Dad drove straight in to get it . While he was gone , Mom filled the chicks ’ drinking typeface and place small-scale rock in the drink orbit so none of the chick would accidentally overwhelm . Then she spread out chick mash ( that ’s 20 percentage protein chick provender from the provender store ) on the towel on the bottom of the brooder .
Dad dipped each biddy ’s bill in the water font before he publish it . That ’s because chick are really thirsty when they first get in . They ’re thirsty too , so they soon set out pecking at the chick starter propagate on the floor of their incubator . ( They do n’t expend a tributary ‘ til they ’re two days old . )
It ’s authoritative to find out new chick to check that they ’re ok and that the temperature in the brooder is just so . If they ’re too hot or too cold , they peep rattling aloud , and then you have to correct the Light Within . Cold chicks pile on top of one another right under the light to seek to get ardent . raging biddy pass around right smart out to the perimeter of the brooder to break away the heat . glad , just - right bird chirrup softly and pelt along around their home or snooze . Snoozing biddy can be shuddery because sometimes they see dead !
I ’ll tell you more about baby doll next week . They ’re fun ! In the meanwhile , if you ’re thinking of getting babe chicks and require to learn more , pick up an issue ofChickensmagazine , a copy of thePopular Farming : Chickensmagabook , or say some of the big article about chickensarchivedon HobbyFarms.com . Carol Ekarius ’ article “ Chickens on the Farm ” is very informatory ; Mom ’s “ Try crybaby ” is a serious one , too .
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