rearing chicks in October

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Jan

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Hi I have just had 2 faverolle chicks hatch, At present they are in the house as i live in Strathdon Abeerdeenshire. So not to warm outside. I have room to keep them indoors until such a time when i can turn them out. My questions are will i need both heat lamps and day light lamps that they use for say reptiles. As my brother has 2 snakes. Both are still a bit wobbly chick feed and water is in the brooding box. I have them on a mat with came with the box do i continue to use the mat or are they better with wood shavings as hand. I know it really is too late in the yr but this is my first live hatch so i want to do all i can as i am hoping to gain a flock of Faverolles as up here they are non existent. Any advice will be welcomed i am prepared for any advice you guys can offer. Thanks already from Marigold and Chrismalon.
 
What sort of a mat is it? They are very wobbly for the first 48 hours or so, I found. Mine hatched last Thurday and Friday. They are already prancing around, jumping on things, and growing lovely wing feathers.

Mine are near the gas fire. Room temperature is 20-22°C, but inside the box it reads at 28-29°C and they're ignoring the heating device (it's a DIY electric hen). I'm planning to keep them indoors for as long as they need to be in as well.

They are eating well and gaining weight. I'm obsessed with recording how much they weigh, I did the same with both lots of my previous chicks which served as a great indicator for when they picked up coccidiosis because on that day, they put on less weight than was normal at the time and the next day their weight didn't change, then dropped.

I had them on tissue until they figured out where the food and water was, then adding a shallow bed of shavings which I change every day. They didn't pick up the water on their own, so I "showed" them where it was by dipping the tips of their beaks in it gently.

Good luck!
 
You just need a heat lamp/brooder for chicks, in most rooms normal daylight supplemented by putting the lights on at night is sufficient for them light wise. As they grow you will need to use bedding of some description as the amount of poo will soon pile up, personally I use dust extracted wood shavings. You just need to bear in mind that given they have just hatched and how cold it is likely to be going forward you may not be able to put them outside for another 12 weeks and then only after a period of hardening them up preferably somewhere colder but not as cold as outside temperature. Well done btw, Faverolles are a lovely lovely breed of chicken.
 
I have a Brinsea electric hen (two in fact) and cannot recommend them enough.
They are extremely cheap to run, their only disadvantage being that the chicks very soon have outgrown them and settle on the tops of them, you can imagine the resultant guano if not taken off immediately. There may be other types out there that are just as effective and safe and larger. They are easy to take apart and clean thankfully.
 
Thanks everyone for your Advice, The chicks are doing fine in my bedroom near the radiator heat lamp is working well and they seem to have settled into a routine. They are asleep at the moment as most of yesterday they were up and about. they are on an anti slip mesh mat that came with the brooder box, it now has shavings underneath, i hope this is suitable, The Temp is reading 34 degrees C. So so far so good, i cant wait to watch them grow, This is so exciting. I will i think be looking for more Faverolle hatching eggs in the Spring to add to my two. Who i have named Mork & Mindie an early TV Show that Robin Williams did.

Will keep you posted and if i can add some picks i will. Thanks all once more this forum me helps so much.
 
Nanu-nanu Orson- remember it well. You need to be planning ahead now Jan. They are going to be quite big before they can go outside unheated and you will need to get them outside soon, before the feather dust takes over. You will need heaters -day and night bulbs we use.
 
Hi Chris
So What would you suggest? I have a brooding ring and i can get power to the large shed my other chickens are in. Was thinking if i split it with chicken wire and put the ring and the heat lamp out there would this work or not. So you have 2 lamps and a timer i presume. Can i ask i suppose a stupid question really, But what is feather Dust?
 
Hi Kittykat
Can i ask how you are keeping a record of weight gain etc. As i would like to do this for my 2 faverolle chicks.
 
Feather dust is tiny pieces of down that float in the air and cover everything in the room Jan. You only have two chicks fortunately- we had 14 when we hatched in October 2012. The Dordogne Winter is probably similar to yours in temperature, just a bit shorter -so surprisingly cold for the South of France. There is no Gulf Stream to warm the air of course. Ours went outside into a trailer initially then sheds. Problem is the ambient temperature affects the temperature under an electric hen, so we had a thermostat controlling oil filled radiators. Later we used lamps which were just changed over manually from night to day with the height adjusted to suit the temperatures on the day. The important thing is to make sure they have places to go to get cool as well, because if the sun came out they would cook under the lamps and had to move away. They were enclosed with ever increasing sized cardboard boxes so there were no draughts. The big pieces of cardboard we collected from the local electrical goods shop. They didn't go out without nightime heat until April.
 
Jan said:
Can i ask how you are keeping a record of weight gain etc. As i would like to do this for my 2 faverolle chicks.
Click to expand...
I have a spreadsheet where the first column is the date, the next columns are chick weights, then the average (probably not interesting for only two chicks) and then the age. I can then easily plot this on a graph.

So it looks something like this:
Code: 
Date       | Chick 1 | Chick 2 | Average | Age (in days) |
2014-10-01 |      40 |      38 |      39 |             0 |
2014-10-02 |      42 |      41 |      42 |             1 |
2014-10-03 |      46 |      45 |      46 |             2 |
2014-10-03 |      53 |      51 |      52 |             3 |

If one of the admins allows files with .odt extensions to be attached, I can attach my file for you. Otherwise, feel free to drop me a PM with your email address and I'll send it over.
 
Thanks Kittykat
I have sent you a PM with my email address. The chicks seem to be doing well. Thanks to everyone for your kind and helpful advice. This is such a great forum.
 
Noticed Yesterday that one chick had a dirty bum so have been keeping it clean with tissue and warm water. Anything else i can do? Oh Thanks Kittykat :-)
 
This could possibly be the start of coccidiosis, Jan. are there any signs of blood in its poo?
Go to the link to the main Poultrykeeper website at the bottom of the page, just above the advertising banner, and input Coccidiosis in the Search box,for article and further links. Sorry I can't post the link, my iPad is playing up.
Chicks are very vulnerable to cocci, because they haven't had a chance to develop natural immunity and also the warmth of a brooder makes the oocysts grow very fast. Pay careful attention to cleanliness In the brooder and try to avoid the litter getting wet round the drinker as you need to avoid damp warm conditions. Have you got any Coxoid in stock, to add to their drinking water? Only if you're not using medicated crumb, though.
 
Think they can get a dirty bum if they are too hot as well? What you need to watch out for is 'pasted vent' which is caused by the poo baking onto the feathers/ down and sealing the vent completely. It means they can't poo. Never had one go terminal, just washed it off and checked constantly.
 
Thanks Chrismahon

They are on newspaper at the mo which is being changed at least 3-4 times a day water and crumb is also being changed, the newspaper does have shavings underneath as they were pecking at the shavings, was a bit worried it would do them harm. I Have no coxiod, I will be picking Pheasant crumb up to morrow as it has an antibiotic in it, this is what i was told to use with my first lost of young chicks. Not as young as these though. weighed them today, they were born Sunday so i think this is day 4 they are 32grams each.
 
Re: rearing chicks in October

Postby Marigold » Thu Oct 16, 2014 12:53 pm
This could possibly be the start of coccidiosis, Jan. are there any signs of blood in its poo?


It is just poo Marigold no blood just muck.
 
Have ordered a bottle of Coxoid as been told cant get the medicated chick crumb, As no longer available. Does anyone know of an online supplier. That covers Aberdeenshire.
 
Really glad to hear there's no sign of blood, Jan. I agree with Chris about turning down the heat - I see that on Tuesday you said it was 32C, and next to a radiator. You need to get the temperature down to around 28C ASAP, and then reduce it gradually by a degree or so every day or two as they feather up. They will need to toughen up if you plan to put them anywhere less heated and too high a temperature in a small brooder won't enable them to get away from the heat. That's why its best really to either have a lamp suspended above the brooder, which can be raised or lowered according to the chicks' behaviour, or to use a small electric hen such as the Brinsea Ecoglow.
The best sort of lamp is a ceramic one, sold as a dull emitter, which only gives off heat not light. So they stay warm at night whilst experiencing proper rest in darkness, and establish a normal response to night and day. This needs to be supplementd by a good powerful daylight spectrum lamp, suspended above them, to provide the sort of light they need to supplement the low levels in winter. All part of raising chicks at a time of year when heat and light are not available from sunshine, I'm afraid.
What sort of brooder are you using and how big is it? Is it the kind with a fixed low level red bulb that can't be adjusted?
It's always a good idea to have Coxoid in stock when raising chicks, so it's available immediately if you do suspect cocci. But I would stick to the crumb you've got, as a change of food might upset them more, especially if designed for a different species of poultry. In any case, you mustn't use both .coxoid and medicated crumb - so as you have ordered Coxiod it would be best to stick with that. You are taking good care to keep things clean and dry so probably you'll be OK anyway.
 
Marigold
Yes it is a fixed bulb i bought the brooding box off someone that breeds ducks off ebay, If you like i can give you the exact measurements. My brother has a brooder ring that he bought for his goslings so will be moving them into that soon i hope. I have dropped the temp as they seem to be getting some sort of feathers on the wings. I am learning new things every day so hopefully will be able to hatch more in spring/ summer up here.
 
DSC_0001(2).JPG

Here are my 2 faverolles at 2 weeks old. they are doing really well gaining weight. Dont know what sex they are as these are the first of the breed i have owned. Sorry if the pic is a bit blurred.

Thanks once again to everyone for your help.
 
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