Chickens and all things fowl..........

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Mickey, the main reason I brood in the house is because I usually get my chicks in late March or early April. I have a large oval livestock trough (it's about 20"X48"X15" deep) that I use as my brooder. I have a regular brooder lamp with an infra red bulb that I built an L-shaped stand for so that it is about 18" high over the brooder. I center it so that way if the chicks want to be cooler they can go off to one side or the other. I'm not familiar with a plate heater. I'll have to look online at them.
Yes, the chicks will use the nipple drinker but you have to kinda show them how it works. Since water is the first thing they need once I get them home from the P.O. I take them one at a time and put their little beaks right up to the nipple. Once they get that first drop of water they usually get the idea. Sometimes it takes a couple tries before they get the hang of it. In the coop when the weather is warm I use the nipple waterer (I have 2), but when it gets cold I have a waterer that sits in the ground but I have it elevated on a round galvanized heater that I keep plugged into a thermostat control that turns on at 35°F and off at 45°F. It provides just enough heat so the water won't freeze. This heater is about 3" tall so it keeps the water from getting dirtied up.
I'm going to go now and see what Premier 1 has. I haven't gotten anything new for my girls in awhile. I think I'll just go shopping!

[hsehntr98]

Joyce I don't plan on brooding mine in my house because I have to many dogs and cats and I don't think they would survive if I did. I will check on them regularly when they get here and since it will be in June hopefully it won't be to hot for them. Do you use a brooder lamp or a heating plate that is adjustable? Will the guinea chicks use a nipple drinker like the chicken chicks will? I have been looking through premier 1 supplies at the products they have. The plate looked like a more useable warmer than the lamp. Are your waterers hanging in your coop or do they sit on the ground? I think mine will not hang because that would make them to unstable, so I will use one that sits on the ground but I will elevate it so they can't put food and poop in the water.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Sorry, I had to go away for a minute. I just reread my last to messages and I want to clarify. Whenever I get new chicks & guinea hens I brood them all together until they're about 6 weeks old. After that age is when I have noticed some behavioral problems with the guineas so then I separate them from the chicks. I brood everybody in my house so it is only about another two weeks before they all go out. The pullets go to the henhouse; and the guineas go to a pen with roosts until they're big enough to be out on their own.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

I can't really tell you. The first time I got guineas I thought they would roost well with the chickens as they had spent the first 6 weeks of their lives together. Unfortunately, as the guineas got bigger they would push the chicks away from their feed and peck at them when they tried to come back. They never actually attacked them but I didn't let it go any further. That's when I started free-ranging the guineas. I've heard that they can be kept in the same coop if they are separated by a wall or chicken wire fence. I've just never done it. Sorry, wish I could be more helpful.

[hsehntr98]

Joyce I plan on brooding them all together, that is why I am not getting them until June because the guineas won't be available until then. Once they are old enough will the guineas continue to roost in the coop at night or will they need a different type roosting coop?

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

I know the accepted wisdom is to not mix them but I've been doing all along and have never had a problem except with one adult male guinea that was bossy with everyone, human and fowl alike. I think that if you're getting them all at the same time they should brood just fine together - mine always have anyway. Sometimes the guineas can get a little greedy with the food but if you have enough feeders (the long trough type) and they're not crowded that can make all the difference.

[hsehntr98]

I have 5 light Brahams, 5 Black Australorps, 5 Buff Orpingtons, 5 Delawares, & 5 Barred Rocks for chickens and 15 assorted guinea fowl chicks. I don't have my brooder set up yet, but I have been looking at products to get. I will have it all ready to go by the time they are shipped the first week of June. As soon as I can get the barn up where I want it to go I can get started on it. I know I will have problems also to keep from picking them up. I currently have 4 hens and 2 roosters. The hens are 2 white rocks, 1 red rock, & 1 light Brahama. The roosters are a Light Brahama & a White Star. I'm excited about getting them, but glad I have time to get things set up before they get here. Will there be a problem putting the chicken chicks & the guinea chicks in the brooder together and raising them together?

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

I have no idea what a chi Kensington is.....LOL darn auto-correct. It's supposed to say chickens

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Joyce I ordered my chicks & guinea fowl chicks today and they will be shipped the 1st week of June. Hopefully by then I will have the new coop up and running. I hope I am not taking on more than I can handle.

I think you will do fine. How many chicks do you have coming? Do you have everything you will need to set up a brooder? Remember you will want to have it set up a couple days ahead so that you can get used to regulating the temperature. The hardest thing for me when we get new chicks is not handling them too much for the first week. I just want to pick them up every time I see them, they're always so darn cute. How many chi Kensington do you have now?

[hsehntr98]

Joyce I ordered my chicks & guinea fowl chicks today and they will be shipped the 1st week of June. Hopefully by then I will have the new coop up and running. I hope I am not taking on more than I can handle.

[southernmom]

My uncle went by the handle 'Chicken Man' for years. They owned a large chicken farm and were known for how well they kept their chickens. I went there quite a lot.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Sorry, just couldn't help myself...

I love it - oh where is chickenman when we need him??!!

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Thank God for wonderful neighbors.

[hsehntr98]

Joyce I am in West Virginia. The southeast part of the state, about 35 miles from Roanoke VA. My coop is 8x12, one of those Amish built barns that are on something that looks like skids. They can be put on slabs, stone foundations, or blocks to level it out. I hope to be able to at least put it up on cinder blocks instead of the paver type blocks. Once it is on the blocks there maybe enough space for them to get under the front of it, but I will have to make sure I close out the sides so that no other animals can get in to bother them. This is the first time that my pigs have seen snow also and they come out to eat, drink, go potty and go back into their little house and sleep. I did have to shovel out an area around their house so they can get out and not have to walk in snow that is higher than they are. My neighbor came over today with his tractor and plowed me out enough that once I dig out my truck I should be able to get out.

[Kelly]

Sorry, just couldn't help myself...



Kelly