Bringing home our chickadees and a DIY brooder box

I was up early this morning.  I mean, earlier than any morning in the last 2 weeks.  Today was the day we planned to get chicks.

Shower.

Scripture Study.

Pray.

Work.

2 hour break..."Ok, everybody get in the van!"  I drove.  I was tired, but my excitement had to be expressed through some means and if that meant driving only 65-70 mph, well, so be it.

Have you ever been a traveler some where and you tried to act like a local but you knew by your mannerisms it was obvious you weren't?  That's how I felt in the Pet & Feed store.  Although the whole family went, I only took two of my boys in with me (trying to be courteous with the whole COVID-19 and social distancing thing).  Thank goodness feed stores are considered "essential".  And they JUST got a new shipment in of baby chicks.  I opted for 2 breeds that are supposedly supposed to lay eggs by the time they are about 4 months old--

Barred Rock

Black Australorps

We got three of each.  I had done some research on both and knew they were good egg layers.  Each breed lays about 200-250 eggs per year.  We got six chicks total, three of each breed.  Of course they are chicks so they don't look like the full grown birds above.  They look like these cute little things...

Nifai had been asking since  this morning if we could go get the chicks.  He was so excited!

The chicks were only $3 each.  I also bought a feeder, waterer and chick feed at the Pet & Feed store.  The total there came out to $36.  

Baby Folau held them the most of the time.  I know my older kids are trying to act like this is too baby-ish or dumb for them.  But you can see the smile playing at the corners of his mouth.  Awww!

Nifa was super excited about holding them right away too.

You can purchase ready-made brooder boxes but, to me, it seems like an unnecessary purchase if you can DIY one.  So that's what we did.  I already planned to use a platic bin that we had instead of a cardboard box.  There are so many suggestions online about what you should and shouldn't use and some of them contradict each other.  I figured, we'll try the bin and if doesn't work for whatever reason, we can use a cardboard box.

I also read that there are lots of things you can lay down in the bottom of the box like pine chips, newspaper, etc. but they all had their pros and cons.  Apparently chicks need something their feet can grasp so they don't get a weird foot condition.  We decided to go with sand which I read was easier to clean--like kitty litter.  

We also needed a heat lamp to keep them warm since it still gets cool at night and they cannot keep their own temperature in a safe range.  Some websites suggested an infrafred light bulb because it provides the heat they need, but isn't so bright that it keeps them from sleeping.  It also keeps them from not wanting to peck each other (I haven't figured out yet why they would peck each other under a white light, but if YOU know, please feel free to leave a comment below to tell me.)  

The sand, bulb and heat lamp came to a grand total of $26.  

Once we got home, the kids took to naming them.  We got 6 chicks so each child could name their own (it is a great way to get "buy in" from each of them).  Watch the video to see how the beginnings of naming started.

Lia is naming hers Smokey.

Nifa named his Surani.  I don't know how he came up with that name and even now, I have to remind him what he named his chick LOL!

Tava named hers Gracie, Filimone's is Chick-Fil-A, Vita said his was named Kabob, and Folau's is still unnamed.  

We quickly got their brooder box set up with sand, chick feed, water... 

as well as a heat lamp and a wire covering for the top--just in case.  The wire was taken from one of those dog gates that our dogs tore up (sigh).  We will have to be very careful about introducing the dogs to these gentle creatures.

We had to raise their food because they were hopping up in it and we didn't want them to use the bathroom there.

The heat lamp was the tricky part.  We were trying to figure out how to keep it high enough so it wasn't too hot for our chickadees.  David came up with the bright idea to suspend the lamp from parts of my quilting frame.  Worked like a charm.

Nifai can't get enough of them.

It is so fun to watch them.  In fact, it's actually kind of relaxing.  I was getting a kick out of this one in particular.  I don't know which one it is because I can't tell them apart yet.  You could see him falling asleep.  You know that feeling when you've just finished eating a buffet and you're too tired to leave the table?

Well it was a very exciting day for us so I imagine it was even more exciting for these chickadees (my grandpa used to call us that) and must've been very exhausting for them as well!