advice needed quickly please

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karminski

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i have 2 week old chicks in a home made broody box which is about 12 -14 inches high { made from raised stacking cubes for cargo from airport i think each cube is 6 inches high but i have put one on top of each other ] and the lamp sits about an 1 inch above the roof is this to high have just been out to check the chicks and they were laying flat out and i thought they were dead :o :o they have been in there since 10 am and although i have had to show them the water a few times the have eaten and drank and seem happy enough think i am in for a sleepless night .
 
Hi, are they directly under the lamp or as far from it as they can get? If too cold they will huddle directly under the lamp but if they are laying flat, and not directly under it they could be too warm.
regards, David
 
they are directly under the lamp but there is plenty of room for them to move away if they get to hot , the lamp is about 15 inches above them i can remove 1 section of the pen to make it lower which means the light can be lowered . but they have survived the night and they seem well each time i go in there i put them near the water and they drink quite a bit but soon go back under the heat again ??i was even up at 4,20 am checking them :lol: as i was so worried .
 
i have been out and measured :-)10 the pen is 16 inches high and the light is 17 inches that gives me an inch above the pen to remove the roof without damaging the light when i went back in there they were away from the light sratching around in the bedding so i take it they seem happy enough and they are getting enough heat , when they stand under it their wing are stretched out a little ? but they dont seem to be panting .
i could call the people i got them from as they are very nice helpfull guys but they have gone away for the weekend and wont be back tell monday .
thankyou for any advice i am being such a paranoid auntie :lol: but now i know why its better to use a broody hen .
 
I wouldn't say a broody hen is better. Once you get into the swing of incubators and brooders at least you don't have to worry about the hen wandering off and not coming back. Mark you - you do have to worry about power-cuts - we hatched chicks last Saturday, then Monday afternoon we had a power-cut. E Hen was getting cold, chicks distressed. The solution we found was 2 x 500ml plastic bottles, filled with very hot water, each wrapped in a teatowel, and put either side of where the E Hen had been taken out. Result - happy chicks! We also put polycarb sheeting over the brooder to kep any heat in. Our power was only off about 2 hours, otherwise we would have had to keep renewing the water!
 
i can bet anything that my maran wont leave her chicks until she is ready and she knows the chicks are strong enough which is why i adore her i know i have only done hens for 3 or 4 years now { lost track } i just know i can trust her . but now i have done some week olds in the garage under heat i am tempted to do more next year , thing is i have just got 4 maran /perkin bantams and although thier eggs are weeny the birds themselves are adorable and i would ahppily hatch out more of that breed .
but just an update my chicks are 3 weeks old this firday and going strong i just cant wait to get them outdoors full time :D
 
Hi, glad to hear all is well. First time chicks in brooder is stressful, I was so worried too about them having enough heat. When I read your post about them strtching their wings out, that's because they were very happy amd warm, like when chickens sunbath they strtch their wigs to soak up the heat. I think it's very sweet. I have now done bother broody hen and brooder. I prefer broody coz it's less work and stress but brooders I have more contact and the chicks become more tame which I like :-) hope you enjoy them now amd the stress period is over :-)
 
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