Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I wasn’t sure where to put this... I am picking up about 20 chicks tomorrow. They are a variety of 3 day olds to week olds. It’s about a 4 hour drive home in my car. Outside temps will be about 9. Seller is putting them in a box. What can I do or need to do to keep to keep them stable as possible temp-wise in the car? I have a hot water bottle and blankets available. Nothing fancier than that. Thoughts?

wear a t shirt and shorts and keep the car heat at the max and they'll be fine. its possible to overheat them, and airflow through the box is important.

LOL baron....i like that. i use the seat heater on medium if they're in the front. otherwise i'll throw some of the hot hand warmers into the box under a towel for them, and then have air holes cut in the box (of course). 20 chicks will be able to snuggle too to help keep warm. honestly, if the heat works in your car (believe me, i've had cars without heat in the past...lol) you should be just fine-if they are cheeping a lot, they're either too hot or more likely too cold. if they're quiet or talking quietly they're probably just fine....oh, if the box is in the sun be careful they can overheat. (assuming there's sun.....)

Throw a thermometer on the seat of your car, if it's sunny you may have no problem at all to keep them warm, possibility of too warm is also there.
Happy travels!

And in case nobody mentioned it rulez say a picture of new fuzzies is a requirement of the site! Good Luck.

WLLady, great idea about the hand warmers, and YES Ontario Chick, in fact I’m picking up a reptile thermometer today. Will take it with me. I think my one hen went broody today. What crazy timing. Is it too early to stick a couple of chicks under her in a day or so?

baronrenfrew wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:14 am

wear a t shirt and shorts and keep the car heat at the max and they'll be fine. its possible to overheat them, and airflow through the box is important.

I tested the car heater on full today, a t-shirt is a definite. I didn’t know a car heater could throw so much.

you will want to make sure she's going to sit for a few days before giving her chicks.....sometimes the gear up and then quit and then you have dead chicks.....i'm going through it (well, i had enough and took everything away from them) with 2 turkey jennies right now. ended up scooping all the eggs they were sitting on when they let their last poult die (this was 3 poults they didn't look after). so.....make sure she is totally sitting and zenned before you slip them under her and then keep a super close eye that she feeds them and all that.

Thanks WLLady. In the meantime, the indoor brooder aka claw foot bathtub in the downstairs loo (nothing is too good) is all set up and ready to go.