Yesterday, I realized that a week from tomorrow AT THE LATEST, my chicks would be here. Yes, sometime next week my post office will call at o'dark thirty for me to pick up my chicks and not only have we not started a coop (which they probably wouldn't be able to use for a few months) but I haven't even started on the brooder. Oops.
This afternoon, I gathered the heat lamp & feeder bases I bought a while ago and set to work. I took the tub we used to store our inflatable kayak (which I donated to our neighbors, it's not a purchase I recommend) and cut the lid in half. That's it. Can you believe people pay for these? I need to buy some non-cedar hamster bedding (as a kid we always got some made from recycled paper, ill prolly use that) for mess absorbency and I've already got organic chick feed hanging out in the basement.
The big thing when it comes to brooders is keeping the chicks warm, but not too warm. Ideally, the temperature should not be consistent throughout so they can find where they like best. If the chicks are too cold, they'll be noisy and huddled under the lamp. If they're warm they'll be far from the lamp and each other. Too warm is actually more of a concern than too cold.
Oh, and just to catch you up on what has been up elsewhere around here, the wainscoting & shoe moulding are about done in the livingroom and we're nearing paint time. Also, Nick has been turning up sod for the garden expansion. More to come on both of those projects another day.
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