[oldageal]

hi

got 4 new black rocks today. 3-4 weeks old. they didn't arrive until 3pm after a trip of about 3 hours. my wife thinks they are just traumatised from the journey and should be left but i'd like to be sure.

they are huddled together in the corner of their pen and not interested in the water and chick crumb at all - haven't eaten or drunk anything. seem sleepy and were like that from the start. should i just leave them to sleep overnight? they are under a heat lamp but i could crank up the heat a bit as it's only 23 degrees now. was more earlier (26/27) degrees but they moved away from the source.

thanks

al

[GrannieAnnie]

They could be chilly. chicks usually start off at about 35C, then heat goes down by 2C each week, until around 5-8 weeks depending on the time of year.  As its quite chilly now, they should be under a heat lamp at around 28-29C at 4 weeks, reducing to 27 at 5 weeks..  Once warmer, you should see a change in their eating and drinking habits.  

Hope they will be okay.  Are they in a brooder still?  now it is colder, I wouldn't let them outside for a couple of weeks yet.

[oldageal]

thanks

have added another bulb. 27 degrees already. will check back in ten mins.

they are in a 2x2ft pen in the kitchen.

keep u posted.

al

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Al, I hope they are better this morning.

How low is the heat lamp?  and what bulb are you using?  if the lamp is too low they may move away from it if its too close to their heads, but then they are away from the heat entirely, so will get chilled. 

If the lamp is a bit higher, that heat will spread out more and cover a bigger area.  I have kept tiny chicks under a normal red light bulb, but not at that age.  A 150 watt infra red is much more efficient  and any chance of giving them a bigger brooder box?  They need room to move around too to either sit under the heat of get away from it.

One of my first ones was an old kitchen wall cupboard that Brian put a back on for me and we laid it down and he made a mesh cover over it.  The heat lamp I suspended from a pole screwed to one side of the box that I could lower and raise as and when needed.

[oldageal]

Hi

Promised to keep you posted - only a bit late!

Chooks are happy and healthy. The heat was all that needed sorted. I wonder if they were shying away from the exposed edge of the enclosure they were in until they got used to it and weren't shying away from the heat at all. They perked up straight away with the heat and haven't stopped eating since!

Thanks very much for the help

Allan

[ANHBUC]

Thats great news Allan.  Now we need to see some photos of your lovely girls.