Chicks, man.

Fun!  In the last post, I mentioned a chick that was found later in the day after the first 5.  This is it.

It's a bit lighter than the other patterned one.  A thing I noticed was that its beak is colored.  The other one, even though it's darker, has a pink beak.  Got me wondering sooo.....

Looky there...5 toes.  I think this is a Silky Cochin.  Silkies have black skin which is why the colored beak caught my eye.  That's definitely possible, I have the one partridge Silky hen.  I got rid of all the other odd breeds so my Cochins could mingle freely, but decided I didn't mind if there were Silky/Cochin crosses.  Can't wait to see what this looks like later.

Got a better idea of colors and maybe sexes.  Looks like 2 buffs, 1 white, 1 birchen (the aforementioned darker patterned), and the white patterned one.  I think now that it will be patterned and not pure white (yay!) because the wing feathers are coming in very dark.  And whatever color the Silky Cochin is.  I'll say birchen or partridge.  Cool!  Lots of pretty colors.  As to sexes, I'm using a hint I read that the ones that have wing feathers at hatch or before others are hens.  If so, got plenty of those in this little clutch.  We'll see how accurate that is later.

A friend blogged about how she raises chicks.  Thought I'd talk about how I do it.  This might not work for anyone who raises a large number of chicks but it works for my small scale operation.  I can raise 6-8 bantam chicks at time in this smaller bin.  I have had more, but it does get crowded after a while.  I do have 2 of these so I can split them up if necessary.

This is set up in a back bedroom.  I like having it near to keep an eye on things.  I'm changing water several times a day for the first few days because the water dish is so small.  There's actually stages for the dishes.  The first day or so, the water is in a small plastic jar lid.  They can't drown in it.  Once they are drinking and walking well, I move up to a small pet dish.  I think it was meant for hamsters or something.  It's flared at the bottom like a dog dish so it won't tip over.  The food dish is a shallow plastic thing.  I don't remember what it was originally.

I start the chicks on newspaper at first.  I know this isn't recommended because it can cause leg problems as the chicks move around on the slippery paper, but it hasn't been a problem for me.  They are only on the paper for 3 days.  I discovered I hated raising them on shavings.  I tried shavings on top of paper, and it ended up in the water and food dish.  I was cleaning out the water dish too many times a day.  And it got stinky real fast.  I tried a piece of wire on top of shavings to keep it from being kicked around and that was a little better but still way too smelly.  There is also a risk the chicks could become trapped under the wire.  That happened with the guinea keets.

After 3 days, they're strong enough to go on wire.  I made the insert to fit inside the bin.  It's rabbit floor wire on the bottom with plastic mesh forming the sides.  I had the mesh for something else and it's too small for them to get their heads stuck.  I just put paper under the insert.  Perfect!  No fouled water or food, and it's so much easier to clean.  I just pick up the insert, chicks and all, and replace the paper.  There's a flange on the floor wire to hold it a little above the paper, and they can reach the paper to peck at food that falls there.  They also graduate to the large water crock and chick feeder.  After a couple weeks, they will move into the larger bin which also has a custom insert.  That one has a hinged top as well.  You'd be surprised how high chicks can jump once their wings grow out.

The heat lamp is used for as long as I think the chicks need it.  Usually 2-3 weeks, but that depends on the weather.  When it gets warm outside, the room is also warmer.  The bulb is just a 60 watt household bulb.  It's puts out enough heat, and I always have some on hand.  If the chicks aren't huddled under it or shivering, they're warm enough.  If I see them panting, it's definitely too hot and I'll either reposition the lamp or remove it.  I keep them in the house for a while longer without the lamp.

If all goes well weather-wise, I move the big bin out to the rabbit barn when the chicks are well-feathered.  It has to be consistently above freezing at night before I'll move them out.  By this time, I'm over having them in the house because the odor is too strong.

After they've acclimated to the barn and outside temps,  they'll go out in the pen in the transition cage.  This is an old 24x24 rabbit cage.  I flipped it over so the bottom is the larger gauge wire on the top of the cage.  This gives the chicks access to the dirt under the cage.  The first thing they do when they realize there's dirt is dust bathe.  It's kind of comical to see how much they wanted that dust bath.  I guess under more natural conditions, they would have it much sooner.  They are also ready to perch so there's one in the cage.  I move the cage every day to give them clean dirt underneath.  This also saves feed.  If they scatter it on the ground, and they will, they can easily clean it up.  I give feed in an old rabbit J-feeder, and water in a clamp-on parrot cup.  They stay in the cage until I think they are big enough to be allowed out into the pen.  Then I open the cage door so they can come and go as they please.  They return to it to eat, drink, and roost, and also to escape the older birds.  The pen is kept closed during this time which means most of the adults have to stay out.  They get used to getting their feed and water outside the pen, although a broody hen might be locked up with the chicks because that's where the nestboxes are.

I'm in the process of converting an old 4 foot dog cage into a better chick cage.  They'll be able to live in that for longer, and I can take it out on the grass.  The chickies will enjoy that.  Photos when I finish it.

tnt