Moving Day

The chicks are five days old, so it was time to move them from the little brooder in the basement to the big brooder in the Little Yellow House. The former occupants have long been gone and the brooder cleaned and ready to go. The little ones, five Icelandic chicks, a Welsummer pair, and a black sex link male were put into a bucket for the short walk up the stairs and out to their new home.

The next stop was the left hand side of the big double brooder. There is a plexiglas divider between the two sides. Each side has water, feed and an Eco-Glow. The Eco-Glow is a radiant heat source for chicks. They get under it and the heat transfers to them as they make contact with the underside. I also keep a safety heat lamp on for the first couple of days while they get used to using the Eco-Glow. It only has a 75 watt bulb but it helps to keep the room from getting too cold. That gives the chicks time to get out, eat, drink and stretch their legs. This is just the second time using these brooders since we built them. Last time a chick didn’t find its way back under the Eco-Glow and got chilled. A couple of hours in the warm incubator perked him right back up. This time I wanted to avoid that happening, so I kept them a little longer in the basement and turned on the heat lamp once they made the move.

This was their first time seeing daylight. They have been in the windowless bathroom in the basement. For a few minutes they freaked out then settled in nicely.

This little guy was just interested in getting a drink of water.

Here’s a little video of the big move.