Chicken brooders !!!!!!

[toddy111]

Basically i want you to bombard me with info !!
I want to know how long chicks should be in the brooder, what to put on the floor, what to feed them, etc...... plz help guys !!!

thanks

 

[kick'n chick'n]

i keep my chicks in the brooder until they are fully feathered. sometimes a little longer in colder weather. i feed them medicated chick starter from our local feed store for about 3 months then i mix the chick starter with my regular chicken feed. then at about 4 months i start them on layer pellets. some people on here feed their chicks the starter feed until they get their first egg.i put pine shavings on the floor of my brooder. temp in the brooder should be 90 degrees for the first week then decreased by 5 degrees each week there after. make sure feed & water are not directly under your heat source. also make sure the chicks have enough room to get away from the heat source if they so desire. hope this helps you out. you'll probably get alot of different answers to your questions as everyone does things alittke different. good luck!!

 

[congdon476]

Is it common to feed starter feed until a first egg? I hadn't heard that... but I wouldn't mind using the 50# (smallest the offered) feed bag until it runs out. Is there an issue with feeding starter past 6 weeks?

 

[jvls1942]

kick'n chick'n :

i keep my chicks in the brooder until they are fully feathered. sometimes a little longer in colder weather. i feed them medicated chick starter from our local feed store for about 3 months then i mix the chick starter with my regular chicken feed. then at about 4 months i start them on layer pellets. some people on here feed their chicks the starter feed until they get their first egg.i put pine shavings on the floor of my brooder. temp in the brooder should be 90 degrees for the first week then decreased by 5 degrees each week there after. make sure feed & water are not directly under your heat source. also make sure the chicks have enough room to get away from the heat source if they so desire. hope this helps you out. you'll probably get alot of different answers to your questions as everyone does things alittke different. good luck!!

a lot of different opinions might be coming but if you do it this way you won't be wrong..

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
What feed options are available to you seems to depend somewhat on where you live.
In some places all that's available is starter/grower in which case you would feed it until 18 - 20 weeks or when you get your first egg.
If you have seperate starter feed and grower feed available then you would feed the starter for about 6 weeks (or what it recommends on the bag), then switch to grower and switch again to layer at 18 - 20 weeks or when you get your first egg.
It's confusing I know. Around here all that's readily available is starter/grower, so that's what I fed until I got my first egg @ 19 weeks.

 

[waynesgarden]

I would suggest that you take a bit more pro-active role in learning what you need to know. The Learning Center has a goldmine of information. Also you should get and read a good, basic book about chicken raising., such as Living With Chickens.

I noticed earliier that earlier today you posted on an excellent Brooder Thread. Lots on information about brooding chicks there. Did that help you?

This is not to say you shouldn't ask questions, but asking the members to reinvent the wheel in a single thread is not an efficient way to learn. Nobody here knows how much you already know or don't know. I'd suggest reading through the existing information and coming back with specific questions about concepts that you do not understand or are puzzled about.

Wayne

 

[arabookworm]

feed them chick starter from a local feed store if there's one nearby, or order it online. they can have yogurt, eggs (hardboiled or scrambled) and sesame seeds as a treat, and bigger tougher stuff as they grow.

put wood shavings (always pine, never cedar) on the bottom, but put paper towels on top the first few days so they don't eat it.

always have a heat source for them. they should be at 90 degrees Farenheit the first week, and subtract 5 degrees every week after that.

don't mess with them too much the first few days, but handle them often after that so they get used to human contact.

ALWAYS HAVE FOOD, WATER, AND HEAT FOR THEM, 'SPECIALLY WATER!!!

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
there is no harm in using up existing feed before buying a different kind.. I personally cannot afford to waste feed at these $$$$

 

[cmom]

Mine are out in the barn in their brooder at three days old with a brooder lamp. At a week old I put them out in a chick tractor. I also have a brooder lamp on it and have a cover for it if it's too cold out. At four weeks they get moved into the nursery coop where I also have a brooder lamp for the colder nights. I live in Florida but when the weather is predicted to get to around 40 I put their lamp on. Actually I have it on a timer.

Here is a great reference book, Gail Damerow's 'Storey's Guide to Chickens' is an excellent guide, as well as this web site.

Also here are some other good sites and info.
Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html
http://www.mypetchicken.com/aboutChickens.aspx
https://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesigns.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart
http://www.the-coop.org/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/animals/all