DAY 3, THE CHICKENS ARE GROWING

 SECOND NIGHT, ALL GOOD!

Our little chickens made it through their second night with us. I was up around midnight and heard a few random peeps from their box but when I peaked in to see if everything was ok the only thing I could see were a couple of little heads sticking out from under Mama Hen brooder, there was nobody moving around in their box. Perhaps it was a chick having a dream and peeping.

TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CONTROL

34% Humidity,  currently 77 degrees F, high temp= 86 degrees, low = 66 degrees

We have a small thermometer inside the box with the chicks, this registers the ambient temperature down in their play area. Typically it has been running 77-81 degrees depending on the voltage sent to the heat lamp.

Outdoor = 95 degrees probe under Mama Hen brooder heater, 63 = ambient outdoor 

We're using a small indoor-outdoor thermometer with a remote probe to keep track of the temperature under the Mama Hen brooder. It seems more accurate than reading the bedding with a laser thermometer. 

2000 watt variac controls heat lamp voltage to modulate environmental temp.

Lowering the voltage sent to the incandescent heat lamp bulb lowers the heat output. The Variac is an autotransformer, one of the purist ways to lower voltage. The Variac has no solid state devices or processing, their is no high frequency modulation from triacs. When the outdoor temperature is 65F about 80 volts on the variac raises the temp under the bulb to 110 and 1.5' away the temp is 80, this range lets the birds control their body temperature by where they position themselves in the playground. 

MEET MAMA HEN

The four legs on Mama Hen allow the heater to be raised as the chicks get larger. At this age the chicks like it to be 95-degrees for night-nappy-time.

BEGINNING THEIR THIRD DAY AT P2

Once again, we put the infrared heat lamp in place and out they came, first seven of them raced out and we were trying to figure out who was missing. Just as I was working my way through the list of names out came Skunk, straggling behind the others. Fortunately there is lots of fresh water and yummy chick food waiting for them. They all spent a while drinking water before hitting the food dish. I guess that sleeping under a 95-degree electric blanket named Mama Hen makes them thirsty by morning. 

SKUNK GETS AIR

We're reading that bantam chickens are excellent flyers. Female hens can fly straight up to escape predators. They can roost in trees to be safe.

While watching them eat breakfast, Skunk, who had worked his way into the corner under the infrared heat lamp, spread his little wings and flew from one corner of the box over to the food and water dishes. It was a short but very deliberate flight. He is the second smallest of the group and he spends a good portion of his day stretching his little wings. He also is the only one in our little flock who does not have feathered legs and feet.

BLACKIE, THE SMALLEST BANTAM

Our little chicken named Blackie is the smallest of the eight. His body looks noticeably smaller than the others. He seems very healthy and happy, just more little. 

GROWING SUPER-FAST

After carefully watching the chicks this morning it is easy to see their wing feathers have grown at least 1/4" in length since they came to P2. It is easy to see they're comfortable in their new surroundings. The chicks love digging and scratching in the corner which we've named "The Glory Hole". On their first day here some of them could barely walk. Now they all run around investigating every inch of their domain. 

HEAT SOURCES

Today we are going to pull Mama Hen out for the daytime hours to allow the chicks to have more room to run around and play. The chicks favor the warm glow of the heat lamp for their daytime antics. 

FUTURE HOME

Snap together Chicken coop for when babies get older

In a couple of weeks we'll transition the babies to spending their days and nights in this plastic chicken coop Mary bought from Amazon. On the left you can easily see one of the two nest boxes which each accommodates two female chickens. The lid on the nest box is easy to open for stealing their eggs (won't do that until after week-22). There are roosting perches inside. Inside photos will follow once we move the birds in. 

This whole coop is light enough in weight that Mary and I can pick it up and move it. The coop features double thick walls with air in-between for insulation. The thick plastic prevents predators from biting their way in to get our babies. I intend to build a wooden stand for the coop so it is up off the ground when we move it outdoors. The stand will help to keep out bugs and predators. 

MORE DAY 3 BIRD PHOTOS

We love watching the baby chicks, we call it "Chicken TV". Their running around and investigating their space is a joy to watch. They are constantly stretching their little wings, this is the best opportunity to see their fancy feathered legs and feet.

Ambient air temperature is only 64 but down in their little world its 81 on the thermometer and the chips under the heat lamp are 105-degrees, like a nice hot Florida beach. 

Skunk at top, Oddball, Lemmon bottom right, Trouble and Dubble left of Lemmon

It is another cool and windy day here at P2, not sure if it will get warm enough to pick the babies up for their big photo-op. They are not too excited about the photos, they'd rather stay in their world and have us leave them alone (except for heat, water and food :-). 

FIRST AID

Nugget lived up to his name, packing a nugget attached to his bottom (over his vent, ewwwww). Mary had already spotted this flaw and then I saw it too, EWWWWWW. It was poo, caked over his vent (a pleasant name for his butt). Thanks to the internet and YouTube we were able to find several guides for how to cure this problem. 

We have a sink in the garage and it has warm water available in it. Mary grabbed Nugget, we took him to the garage and ran warm water over the afflicted area (aka his butt). Using her fingernail Mary was able to soften the "nugget" which covered his butt, eventually removing all of the crud. 

We had warmed a towel in the clothes dryer earlier so the damp little bird went directly into the warm towel for drying and then we returned him to his warm brooder world. It was not warm enough, he hovered in the light directly under the heat lamp and he began to shiver.

Mary sprang into action, grabbed her hair dryer while I grabbed Nugget. We met in the kitchen and carefully blew him dry. He was not happy about a second removal from Brooder World  but after we finished with him he was much more animated, he really likes having the droppings removed from his butt. Nobody likes a dirty-bottom, did I mention EWWWWWWW!