Lets talk CHICKS

[Amandas4hens]

Hello fellow chicken lovers,

Ordered our 15 chicks from a hatchery last night and am so excited over their impending arrival next week!

Got a tip today not to handle the newborn chicks too much so that disease and germs don't get on them. This person also advised us to handle them a ton after 2 weeks in order to gain their trust and comfort and to bond. This is good to know as we have 2 very young children.

They will start their lives in a big aquarium in our living room. I will then move them on to a brooder that I will be building in the near future. This second stage brooder will be kept in our basement near French doors for a view and sunshine.

I would love to get tips and hear your experiences on how to build brooders, what to put inside them for fun and play (do chicks play?), do chicks sleep in a nest together? Do they need poles to roost on at that age?

I have too many questions to post! Please share with me all that you have to share!!
~ Amanda

 

[subhanalah]

I started handling my chicks the day I brought them home (they had just hatched that morning). I would hold them on a towel near my neck so they could cuddle under my neck like they do under momma hen. They are not yet a week old and when I open the brooder door (big dog crate) they flutter onto my lap to cuddle. You're gonna love them.
Let me see if I can post a picture. This is from yesterday.

 

[AnnikasMommy]

Thank you for posting these questions, they are very helpful to me to read off the answers people are giving.

 

[gander007]

My Brooder


I bought this before I retired and it gets used a lot and right
now it is being cleaned out for next week's hatch but I have
had this sense 1997 and had mor then a thousand birds go
through it chickens ducks geese doves quail chucker's
and other's

 

[gander007]

My Brooder


I bought this before I retired and it gets used a lot and right
now it is being cleaned out for next week's hatch but I have
had this sense 1997 and had mor then a thousand birds go
through it chickens ducks geese doves quail chucker's
and other's

So you use newspaper instead of bedding? Also what is the brooder made of?

The News Paper was to reflect the light otherwise the photos come out dark....
This brooder is like one you might find in a feed store and it is stackable
and comes complete with heater screen floor and tin for sides and top .....

 

[subhanalah]

Subhanalah, I love your story! So sweet

My parents told me the same thing about all baby animals. That if you handle them at a young age it stresses them out, they get sick and die. This simply is not true in my experiences. I've raised dogs, rabbits, gerbils, mice and now chickens from birth/hatch, and they are far friendlier and less stressed out when you handle them gently from birth (or in this case hatch!)
I am not sure if this old advice is because people were too rough with the babies or what, but I can tell you that my animals are much more accustomed to humans and unafraid when they get used to human touch sooner rather than later. I don't know about you, but if I spent the first week or two of my life unhandled, then one day this giant insists on grabbing me up and restraining me, I think I'd be pretty freaked out. That's what predators do!
I'm glad you like my story. I'm beginning to think I may need to roost the chickens inside at night. Can you imagine every night when I bring the dogs in, a parade of chickens following closely behind? I just can't imagine making them stay out side, I've already grown so attached to them. It's not for their sake, it's for mine! Separation anxiety and empty nest syndrome!

 

[aart]

You'll need about this much space per bird in your brooder:
1/2 sq ft until 2 weeks old
1 sq ft for 2-4 weeks
2 sq ft after 4 weeks
Might as well make it as big as possible from the get go.
Refrigerator or other large boxes work well and are disposable.

 

[subhanalah]

Anything that is not crumbles/pellets/mash. Table scraps, greens, bugs, grains, etc.

 

[gander007]

Sketched my brooder for our chicks as they grow and need space. It will be kept in our basement near the French doors. In April/May, we'll build them an enclosure for them to enjoy outside the doors. I hope to start it tonight!

Q: at what age can you give them crushed oyster shells/grit?

I really do not offer them oyster shells till they start to lay egg's
as it is really to help make the shell's hard .....

Would like to see a photo of your brooder when you are finished ....

 

[Secretlyspotted]

As for bedding- I used pine shavings from the very first day. No attempts to try to eat that stuff from my babies. I have an Ecoglow, so the babies spent most of their time under it their first couple days. I put a puppy training pad under it and changed it a couple times a day just so they weren't standing in poop. I don't do that anymore cause they don't spend that much time under the heater (mine are 2.5 weeks as I type.) I have a 4 year old and I let her hold them the first day. I mean, how could I not?! My chicks are not super friendly, I don't have a whole bunch of time to handle them.
Oh- and their favorite treat in grass pulled up from the yard! They eat the dirt, roots, and everything.

Above is a pic of the day they came home. I got some GrowGel- they didn't have any interest in that stuff at all.
And here is a pic of my daughter holding one on Day 1. Just cause it is cute. We didn't wash our hands or anything- I guess looking back that's kinda gross. I have bigger things to worry about than chick germs!