New Chicken Parent

My chicks arrived today! I'm so excited! 15 in total. 6 Barred Rocks, 6 RI Reds, and 3 Dominique roos. I can't tell the roos and the BR's apart. They're in a temporary warming bin until I finish their grow out brooder. And of course we need to start on their coop right away. Already getting used to the peeping.

Thanks for sharing your new arrivals. Love the photos!

petrel said:

Thanks for sharing your new arrivals. Love the photos!

Click to expand...

You're welcome. I have no idea what I'm doing.

PandorasKitten said:

You're welcome. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Click to expand...

Go to your local feed store or Tractor Supply and buy a bottle of Poultry Nutri-Dench or Goat Nutri-Dench.
Use the instructions for the Poultry formula and put it in their water for the 1st month. It will get them past
travel stress and get them off to a strong start. The Bovidr Labs products don't need to be digested.
The formulas are very forgiving of novice management mistakes . I use them on all my poultry and dogs.
Raised my chicks this year on the Goat formula, using the poultry usage and dosage instructions.
Now tho the formulas are species-specific, they also meet the scientific standards for a universal formula.
That's why I can use the Goat formula. The formulas are very concentrated. If a chick is lagging, just
one drop by mouth every 8 to 10 hours as needed.
http://www.nutridrench.com/
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/nutri-drench-poultry-nutri-drench-4-oz
Best,
Karen

PandorasKitten said:

You're welcome. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Click to expand...

Then you have certainly come to the right place. A year ago I had no idea what I was doing either and between a little reading (mostly what hatcheries had about new chick care) and the people here on BYC I have managed to care for 22 laying hens, 1 rooster, 8 Sebright Bantams, 7 meat birds, 20 ducks and 3 geese. And, I was planning on only having 5 chickens for their eggs.

As for doing the right thing, you have them in a safe and warm environment with food and water...that is the best way to start. You are preparing a brooder for them to grow out and will have a safe and secure coop and run for them over the next couple of months...they grow really fast so be sure you don't slack on those.

It is not uncommon for a new chick to not make it due to stress or just being a weaker chick. If this happens there is nothing you could have done probably but you will still feel bad. Don't let it pull you down. Just take really good care of those that are left.

Don't go into a panic if you look in someday and one looks like it just fell over on it's face and is laying there. It is probably just sleeping. Chicks do that. The first time I saw it I thought I had lost one and my heart sunk. I reached in to pick it up and it jumped up and ran away.

Good luck with you chicken efforts. Oh, and the first paragraph above...that is what chicken math is if you have not heard of it. You never have just the right amount of birds no matter what you might think.

jtn42248 said:

Then you have certainly come to the right place. A year ago I had no idea what I was doing either and between a little reading (mostly what hatcheries had about new chick care) and the people here on BYC I have managed to care for 22 laying hens, 1 rooster, 8 Sebright Bantams, 7 meat birds, 20 ducks and 3 geese. And, I was planning on only having 5 chickens for their eggs.


Don't go into a panic if you look in someday and one looks like it just fell over on it's face and is laying there. It is probably just sleeping. Chicks do that. The first time I saw it I thought I had lost one and my heart sunk. I reached in to pick it up and it jumped up and ran away.

Good luck with you chicken efforts. Oh, and the first paragraph above...that is what chicken math is if you have not heard of it. You never have just the right amount of birds no matter what you might think.

Click to expand...

LMAO- I was only planning on 8 girls and my two boys. They are only 5 weeks and I've already decided I need 2 coops with two runs so I can keep my turken roo cause I just can't bear to get rid of him and unless I go with a much bigger coop and get double the girls the poor things will be oversexed by too many males. Chicken math is like common core....just impossible to understand...lol

And the chicken face plant while sleeping...a heart attack waiting to happen...lol Those buggers will sleep in the funniest positions, but when you aren't familiar with chicks and you see them face down straight out for the first time it scares the beejeezus out of you.

Lol good to know about the faceplant sleeping! I guess just like any baby animal, they crash anywhere when they're tired. Lol. I'm glad I know that. I've got a possible 4 eggs hatching around Christmas time Gotta know these details so I have no heart attacks!

So far, the chicks are just over a week and we've only lost one. No idea what happened. Been checking for pasty butt twice daily. They're on good feed and I've given then a few treats here and there. They're getting used to me and being held. They're even cuddled up with the kittens a couple times! Watching them sleep is very entertaining.

PandorasKitten said:

So far, the chicks are just over a week and we've only lost one. No idea what happened. Been checking for pasty butt twice daily. They're on good feed and I've given then a few treats here and there. They're getting used to me and being held. They're even cuddled up with the kittens a couple times! Watching them sleep is very entertaining.

Click to expand...

The loss of one out of a bunch that were shipped to you is not uncommon and probably was a weaker chick to begin with. Sounds like yours are getting just what they need to start a healthy and happy life. If you are giving treats to young chicks you might want to also put a little dish of chick grit in their brooder with them. You can get it at most any feed store and Tractor Supply. Don't use the adult sized grit, make sure it is the finely ground chick grit. They will instinctively know what to do with it.

I have a few different breeds and one Speckled Sussex. I think they are such funny sleepers...