Things You'll Need
- Rabbit or guinea pig cage
- Scrubbing brush
- Hot water
- Soap
- Bucket
- Wire
- Wire cutters
- Medium-sized Water feeder
- Small feeder
- Peanut butter bottle cap
- Pine shavings
- Newspaper
- Water
- Crumbles (chick feed)
- Lightbulb of 100 watts
- Reflective (mirror) shade for lamp
- Thermometer
- Diffusion paper
Instructions
Scrub the cage clean, particularly if it is secondhand. Chicks are very susceptible to disease so ensure there are no harsh chemicals or other animal droppings or fur on the cage. Wash it with hot water and soap. Leave it to dry in the sun for a couple hours as the sun will also help to kill bacteria.
Place several sheets of newspaper on the floor of the cage, making sure they lie flat. Then cover the newspaper with pine shavings. The shavings provide warmth and protection for the chicks and are easy to clean out and replace. If you cannot find pine shavings you can use straw, hay or even fine-grain sand.
Attach your water feeder with wire to one corner of the cage. The chicks need a lot of water, so keep the water feeder filled. Clean the feeder once or even twice a day because droppings, feathers and dirt will get into the water. Attach it with wire to ensure when the chicks sit in it, it will not fall over.
Position your food feeder at the opposite end of the cage. Again, you can attach this with wire. If you do not have a feeder you can use a peanut butter jar lid or a small dish and fill it with crumbles. Crumble is specially formulated food for chicks. Buy medicated crumble at your local farm supplier or pet shop. Medicated crumble will protect your chicks from infections and diseases.
Place your heat lamp (or bulb) at the top of the cage in a corner, pointed so it will not cover the entire cage. Keep the temperature at 90-100 degrees for one week then reduce temperature by 5 degrees every week after that. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature. To reduce the temperature either buy smaller wattage bulbs or cover them in diffusion paper until you reach the right temperature.