These little yellow balls of fluff are starting to get their feathers and are starting to fade to a more pale yellow (they will eventually be all white). Still cute, they are eatin' & pooin' machines!!
This week over 1/2 the chicks started sneezing; under advice from our local chicken expert (Fran), I started the chicks on antibiotics & vit/electrolytes (7 days).
** Now, for those of you in the local area, if you do not know Fran (or know of her) she is a plethora of chicken knowledge! She works at Burns Feed Store in Gresham; if you have a question, she has the answer!!
My how fast they grow!!!!
I have an old wooden dining chair set up beside the pen - I hang out with my peeps after a long day of work. They calm me and make me smile!!! : )
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| March 6 - 1 week old |
Fresh water every day, and cleaning the fount a couple times a week with a diluted bleach solution will help to keep any creepy crawlies to a minimum. And I had to change out their feeder... this yellow flip-top chick feeder was a favorite perching location. I changed out to a hopper-style feeder and gave them a small perch block to roost on! NO POO IN THE FOOD!
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| March 6 |
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| March 6
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Like any other chick, the heat is monitored as they get older. I started them out at 90-95deg temp for the 1st week, then raised the lamps up to maintain 85-90deg temp (heat should be reduced by 5deg every week until week 6 when the chicks should be fully feathered). With the rapid growth rate of these chicks, the fact that it is March, and they're location in my unheated greenhouse, I let them dictate the warmth they wanted and adjusted the lamps daily if needed.
On March 6th, I starting taking away their food for 12 hrs each night - this keeps them from gorging themselves all night. I want them to put on weight, but would also like to keep the mortality rate down if possible!!
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| March 9 - 11 days old |
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| March 9 - 11 days old |
I was monitoring for "pasty butt", but have seen no signs of that or any other issues (other than the sneezing) that these chicks are under any stress. I think the 24 hour music also helps keep them calm, providing some "white noise" (and a little Mellencamp) to keep them occupied.
Count: 26 birds
PEAS OUT!
~GP
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