Lots of behind the scenes activities during the winter month. Planning two new coops. One coop will be mobile, similar to the first ark we built. We are currently building a different type of A-Frame that will contain our pullets that we can pull around in our pastured backyard. We have plans to build a stationary coop and run over cement in a protected area for winter. This time, we are planning on building electrical outlets "inside" the coops for easier heat and lighting.
We put in an order for 10 baby chicks and they should arrive on Friday (we hope). We have a large brooder for the first few weeks and an extra large brooder as the chicks start to grow. We are hoping for a better survival rate, but are expecting a 50% survival. We've changed a few things. One of the issues we had last time was the chicks eating the wood shavings. Instead of wood shavings at the onset, we are going to use large thin towels that we can wash. We have four, so we can wash a Bucket load every three days and rotate the towels over a two or three week time period before we switch to the wood shavings.
We have some other changes in place. We will be using a Brinsea Chick Warming system this time so that we don't have to work so hard to regulate the temps in the brooder with a 250 watt heating lamp suspended over the coop. The warmer is large enough for up to 20 chicks, so we should be good with 10. We have a different chick feeder that will be more difficult for the chicks to stand on (we hope) and we will be using Organic chick feed by Payback. We are HOPING that these changes, collectively, will make a difference in survival rates.
I picked up some tiny latex color bands (the type little girls use in their hair) to mark the chicks. I'll put a different color around each chick's little leg and the bands are easy to clip off as they grow older. I'm just hoping that they won't "eat" the little bands. The bands are so tiny, I doubt that it would hurt them, if they do eat the bands. This is just an experiment to see if this will work as an adequate tracking system for individual socialization time and record keeping of their growth.
We have a chick water system already. We have the electrolytes and the pro-biotics ready for use from the onset. We will be hard boiling eggs so that we can feed the chicks a little bit of yolk every day. We have a portable table to put the brooder on so that the pets and grandkids can't pester and stress the chicks. We will use a fully extended baby gate to cover the brooder for added security and to prevent the chicks from flying out as they get older. I bleached/washed 20 small cotton towels that we use to hold the chicks on our laps for short periods of time to socialize them during the first few weeks while keeping them warm and feeling safe.
All in all, I think we are ready to go, and I hope that this is a good year for new chicks.
