About to order supplies for my chicks, did I miss anything?

[detz]

I'm getting four chicks to start. I'm going to brood them in one of the large tupperware bins which should hold them until they can go outside. Since it's going to be in our house I'm going to use the Brinsea EcoGlow so I don't have to worry about the fire hazzard. Here is what I'm ordering, did I miss anything?


Waterer base (https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?prodID=65)
Plastic Feed base (https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?prodID=PFBR)
2 x 10 lb bags of non medicated starter feed (https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?prodID=OC10S)
EcoGlow (http://smile.amazon.com/Brinsea-Eco...klings/dp/B008HVM56Q/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top)
Pine shavings

Do I need grit for the first eight weeks?
Can I use pine shavings right away or should I use something else for the first few days?
Lights on or off or does it matter?
When can they fly out of the bin, I can just put a chicken wire top on at that point?
What else?

 

[Bloveschickens]

#1 You will need to feed them grit if you plan on giving the chicks treats. They can digest their chick food without grit. Also, do not start to give treats and grit until around around 2 weeks, at least thats what I do.

#2 At first you will need to put paper towels or puppy pads on the ground of the chicks' brooder and sprinkle food on the paper towels so they can easily find it, along with their chick feeder, for the first week. Once they are a week old you can use pine shavings.

#3 Not positive what you mean by lights on or off, but if you mean the lights in the room they are in it does not really matter.

#4 I have a permanent brooder mounted to the wall in my basement, and it has a ceiling so I am not sure exactly when they could get out but I would guess around 4-5 weeks. A piece of hardware cloth over the top will solve the problem of them escaping.

What else?

* As for the space of your brooder make sure you have two square feet for chick, if you want it to be large enough until your chicks go in the coop.
* I highly recommend getting your chicks a manna pro chick stick my babies loved it and it lasted for weeks.
* Are you getting your chicks shipped or from a feed store? If they are being shipped from a hatchery make sure you set it up with the post office that you are going to pick them up from the post office and have them call you as soon as they arrive. By picking them up you will save them from hours of driving around tow with the mail man until he arrives at you house.
* I also suggest you put some roosts in your brooder so the chicks can learn to roost from a young age.
* Do not handle them from them for the first few days, this article will tell you how to properly socialize baby chicks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-socialize-baby-chickens
*Make sure you have the brooder all set up before the chicks arrive, so you can place them right in as soon as they arrive
*You may want to provide electrolytes when you get your chicks, but this is not a requirement, if you search chick electrolytes in the BYC search bar you will see what I mean
*When the chicks arrive you need to dip their beaks in the waterer so they learn how to drink before you let them in the brooder, do this with each chick

What breeds are you getting? You must be so excited to get your first chicks, I know I was, please post pics as soon as they arrive.

I hope I helped, If you have anymore questions once your chicks arrive, just ask! Their are so many great people on here with tons of knowledge to share.

Good Luck!

 

[kmartinez]

For the water base = marbles or small cleaned rocks to put in the base to prevent drowning
sav a chic electrolyte or sugar water to pep them up..


at 2 weeks they can fly on top of the feeder and waterer and then hop to the lip of the brooder so I would get something like hardware cloth or chicken wire stapled to a wooden frame to go over the top. My box is two feet high and my 2 1/2 week olds can fly up to its rim.

 

[Bloveschickens]

For the water base = marbles or small cleaned rocks to put in the base to prevent drowning
sav a chic electrolyte or sugar water to pep them up..


at 2 weeks they can fly on top of the feeder and waterer and then hop to the lip of the brooder so I would get something like hardware cloth or chicken wire stapled to a wooden frame to go over the top. My box is two feet high and my 2 1/2 week olds can fly up to its rim.

Wow, two weeks!

I was way off!

Thanks for clearing that up.