amber91
In the Brooder
H
hey I want to know is it must to keep them under lamp for first two weeks?the temperature is 20Cand more in the day time and 17-18C at night.I have bought 3new baby chicks yesterday.I keep them in basket with paper and cloth on the surface and cover with warm cloth at night.Keep them in wire cage in day time where they feel good around surrounded by 2hens and 2roosters.Best to stop feeding the big bird(s) layer and feed them all the same grower/starter or all flock with a side of crushed oyster for those that are laying... This way you know for certain the chicks are not getting an excess of calcium by eating layer feed they might find or manage to get... Once they all start laying you can switch back to layer feed and still keep the side of oyster shells for good measure or even continue with the all flock or chick starter as long as you continue to offer some oyster shell...
As for no heat, it's always best to provide supplemental heat for the first few weeks as it's a medical fact that their bodies at that age are unable to properly regulate their body temp... Sure you will find instances where you can get by without it and not have issues, but that is the exception not the rule...
And the best time to use medicated feed is when the new birds are introduced to the older bird(s) and or moved to an outdoor environment... The medication does little good in a brooder environment where they are likley not exposed to much if any cocci... Once they get moved outdoors or in the proximity of older birds their cocci exposure will generally skyrocket and this is when the medicated feed has the greatest impact as it buffers this spike in exposure and gives the chicks bodies a chance to build up immunity...
If your medicated feed is medicated with Amprolium (almost all US chick feed is) there is no withdrawal period for eggs if the elder birds do eat it... If it's medicated with something else you will need to research that medication for egg withdrawl...