Raising Baby Chicks - Part 2

Here's a short video I took of the baby chickens when they were six days old.  They are growing their tiny wings so quickly.  I can see a difference every day.  They sometimes get on top of the feeder and take a running leap whilst flapping away.  If they keep this up, they'll be flying out of the brooder in no time.

Things are going along rather smoothly these last couple of days.  I feed and water them daily, and check on them about every two hours.  I figure if the red heat lamp burns out, two hours is probably the max for them to not be too severely harmed from the cold.  They are being kept inside the house in a separate quiet room.  The house is heated to 68 degrees during the day, and 64 degrees at night.   The heat lamp is keeping them at slightly higher than 95 degrees directly under the light, and the coolest spot in the brooder is around 86 degrees.  They have the option to hang out wherever they are most comfortable.  

Here's a photo I just took today, just four days after the video above.  Just look at
the huge difference in the size of their little wings.  Some of them are fluttering up to the top of the pool already.  They are so funny to watch.  I could spend hours in there watching them!

What a cutie!  Ten-day old Red Star pullet!

Only two or three of the chicks were eating from the feeder last week.  I was putting feed on the floor of the brooder and they liked scratching for it.  Now, all of a sudden, they are all eating from the feeder.  It's fascinating to watch how they learn something new almost daily.  

Eating at the trough!

Today is the one week mark since they arrived, so we will raise the lamp to lower the temperature by about 5 degrees - to around 90 for week two.   I expect that by week three that at least one or two of them will be flying high enough to be able to make it out of the brooder, so we will have to move them out to the chicken coop.  I hope the weather warms up a bit.

I removed the marbles from the waterer today, and they were a bit apprehensive about the new look!  But it took only moments for one to give it a try, then the others quickly followed.  Monkey see, monkey do, or rather chicken see, chicken do.  

Carpe Diem! Lil and Bill