According to the McMurray Hatchery blog week 4 is where things start to change. According to us, each weekend has been a flurry of feathers and makeshift contraptions to try and keep them contained. So I don’t know Mcmurray hatchery, you make everything seem so easy! I wish we had a camera set up when we change the bedding on Sundays. I’m sure it would look like something from the Three Stooges. Catching them is the hardest thing, usually it involved James herding them towards me while I try and trap one or two so I could grab one, getting beaten in the face by wings while trying to stuff them in a plastic drawer we’ve been using as a holding pen since they’ve escaped everywhere else.
All waiting in line to drink
Research says to increase the floor area to 3/4 square foot per bird, since we have ten and plenty of space we kept ours the same size. It also says to increase the number and/or size of feeders to provide 2 1/2″ to 3″ of space per bird. We bought a adult sized feeder and waterer we put on platforms, mainly because we were tired of constantly refilling the teeny tiny baby feeders. We bought 5 gallon metal waterer and feeders that say they can feed up to 30 birds, so I think we should be alright. We will still have to pick wet shavings out of the waterer but hopefully that will cease when they get larger, have more space and are less rambunctious. We will eventually buy a heated platform so in the winter the water wont freeze, but (hopefully) we will wait to buy that for next season.
The penitentiary’s waterer just isn’t cutting it
It also says to buy a grit hopper and fill that with appropriately sized grit. I have been sprinkling the grit over their food like salt since week two, as the back of the chick grit bag says to do. So I think we will be OK for now. But because our chickens won’t be free range we’ll have to supplement their diet with grit regularly.
We did follow the instructions to install roosts at the back of the brooder area. The website suggests 4″ per bird with roost poles 6″ apart. James lovingly built roosts that Chicken Parm instantly started using. I can’t wait to go down one day and see them all lined up.
Sir Parm reigning over his ladies on his roost (although we never know, it could be Lady Parm rocking the girl power)
The website also says: “if brooding indoors, open the windows in the daytime for better ventilation. Leave the windows partly open at night”. Since they are in the basement, we cracked the window a bit and are monitoring the temperature. Especially with these 20 degree days! The basement is usually pretty chilly. It’s funny though the side that the birds are on is definitely stuffier. I’m not sure if it’s just the heat lamp or if they’re giving off some heat themselves.
We received some very large Honeycrisp apples from Jim’s parents and have been eating them pretty regularly. I’ve been feeding the leftovers around the core, without the stem and seeds, to the girls, I’ve read they love apple slices. I’ve also been serving them more cut up cilantro stems, spinach stems and leftover cilantro (gasp…I know, there should NEVER be leftover cilantro!).
I’m so excited about the progress of the chicken coop. The building of it has been progressing much faster than I thought it would. It will be so exciting to move them in, but these nights better get much warmer!
Share Now!
