Peep…Peep…Peep. If you are like me, than Spring Fever has taken over and you have fired up your heat lamp and dusted off the brooder box. There are spring chicks all over, including my bathroom.
My bathroom?! Much to the surprise of any visitors, yes, I am brooding my babies in the bathroom. It is a secure, warm room, that I can close up tightly to protect the young chicks while they grow. Protect, secure… those are all words that we use when talking about building chicken coops, why are they being used to talk about brooders and chicks? You see, at my house, we have predators that live right indoors with us. Two cats as well as two maybe not so trusty dogs.
Our cats and dogs do not mess with our grown birds. They have coexisted for years in the backyard of our little piece of land. This year, we had to say a heart breaking good bye to our trusty protector, a Rottweiler named Nyla Marie. In turn, we have gained a puppy, a cute mix of a mutt, named Roscoe. Roscoe is very much in training when it comes to chickens. He has not earned the trusted status yet. He is cute, but at 5 months old and 75lbs, he is a ball of energy that has the potential to hurt a bird. It is my job, my priority, my responsibility to be diligent in protecting my flock and training Roscoe.
Desensitization is the training word of the day. It is psychological term that is defined as the “diminished emotional responsiveness to a negative or aversive stimulus after repeated exposure to it.” We are constantly, under supervision, introducing Roscoe to chickens. While they are not a negative stimulant, they certainly can produce a reaction. He is never alone and often on a leash for these introductions. We want him to see the birds as just one more part of the backyard landscape. The farm raised Blue Laced Red Wyandottes are large birds that he pays no mind to at all. The wild Easter Egger, who looks like a pheasant, is of little importance to him, but the peep, peep, peep of the baby chicks have proven to be a draw that his puppy curiosity can not over look. 
So, instead of the usual place by the backdoor that the brooder once stood, it is now housed safely in our bathroom. There are also a few extra precautions that we take. Our brooder box is a galvanized feed tub most like what is used for large animals. It is sturdy and able to absorb heat well. We also have a grate that fits over top of this. The grate keeps the young chicks inside as they begin to stretch those newly feathered wings. The heat lamp is set up on its own pole and is completely independent of the tub that contains the chicks. This allows me to adjust the amount of heat that the chicks are exposed to. It is also important to have enough room for the chicks to walk away from the heat source so that they can regulate how hot they want to be. Over heating and not warm enough can be detrimental to a chick. Mother Earth News is a great source to temperature control in your brooder. Based on their recommendation, I start my brooder at 95F and lower it as the chicks age and feather out. They also have space to walk away if the light source is getting to warm.
Brooder protection from our furry family members is an important part of the baby raising experience. Chicks are so much fun to have around, but safety is key in helping them grow. Ok… and to the exciting part, we added Light Brahmas and Easter Eggers to our flock this year. What new babies have you added?
6 Comments
Just starting my flock. I have 4 buff orphingtons and 4 barred rocks. We started with the brooder in our bathroom, unfortunately we dont have heat in our master bed or bath and I couldn’t keep the heat regulated well, so we moved them to the office which is always warm. Any advice or tips for the newbies would be appreciated.
Baby chicks really like it hot… 100-125 degrees F. That simulates their mother’s body heat. If they are making very loud peeping noises, they may be cold. When they are warm, the peeps are quieter and trills. Below are a couple of article on brooding chicks and you can find lots of other information on Community Chickens to help you keep your chicks comfortable and healthy.
https://www.communitychickens.com/hatching-chicks-zbw2002ztil/
https://www.communitychickens.com/caring-for-new-chicks-part-2-chick-care-basics/
I am needing to learn how and when to introduce the younger chicks to the flock? Thank you
Hi Linda,
Predictably, folks have lots of different opinions about this. Here’s my gleaned wisdom: there are a couple of methods that I’ve used with pretty good success. 1) We create a small, temporary fenced area (with small shelter) in the chicken yard for the young ones. The older birds can sniff them through the fence and get used to them. That stays in place for about two weeks. Then we release the young ones into the chicken yard and let them all figure out the pecking order. 2) We have two coops. When we’re ready to introduce young ones to the flock, we put them in one of the coops with a couple of the older birds who we know will be gentle with the teenagers. We keep them sequestered in that coop for a week or so and then let open it up to let them all mingle. There will still be pecking, but it seems to calm the squabbling down a bit.
Hope this helps, and thanks for reading!
Our brooder is our laundry room/mechanical room! I love your desentizitation information. I had not thought about it like that.
Donna at the Small House Homestead
http://smallhousebigskyhomestead.wordpress.com
Of course, individual dogs and cats differ, but we’ve had good luck over 10 years of chicken raising with several different dogs and cats. We show the dog or cat the baby chick and then call the pet’s name. If they look at us they get a treat. We repeat this, show the chicken and as soon as the pet looks at us instead of the chicken ( or grown hen) we treat and praise. They have quickly learned to ignore the chickens. Good luck with your new chicks and Roscoe.
Disclaimer, we’ve raised spaniels who are retrievers with soft mouths, not prone to chicken killing. A few times hens have been carried around and then dropped to shake their damp feathers in indignation.