25 baby chicks arrive tommorrow. have ? 's

[OzawkieBantams]

I have 25 Old English Banties coming in the morning Friday. Do I need to have some kind of sand for grit or is that in the chick starter. Is there any advice or special things I will need to do when I get them?

 

[GreenDragonFarm]

I'm sure more experienced folk will weigh in soon, but it's my understanding that as long as they're on starter, they don't need grit.

hth,
Jen.

 

[Pelican49]

I'm guessing they're coming in the mail? If so, the very first thing to do is dip each chick's beak in water and make sure everyone gets a drink. After about an hour, offer them chick starter. They don't need grit until they're eating other things.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing pics. My babies were 2 weeks old yesterday.

 

[OzawkieBantams]

Quote:
Yes from Strombergs.

I would have never thought to dip their beaks... Thanks.

Do I need to show them the food the same way with the water?

 

[BarredBuff]

If you give treats then yes grit. But otherwise nope.

 

[Rozzie]

You really shouldn't give treats to new chicks anyway. Let them get a good solid start on a balanced starter feed for a while first, especially after the stress of shipping.

A lot of old-timers would put sugar in the babies water for the first couple of days with shipped chicks. I can't recall the quantities that we used to use offhand, but perhaps someone here will weigh in with that info. This just gives them a little energy boost after the stress of being shipped. It's not usually necessary with home hatched chicks unless they had problems. Make sure they drink IMMEDIATELY upon arrival. If they wait til the next day they may die. They've already been without water for a couple of days, remember.



Also, make sure they do not have slippery bedding. Do not use newspaper or other smooth papers, cardboard, feedsacks, plastic, glass, metal, etc. The really squishy soft rubbery shelf liner is an option (other types of shelf liner can be too slippery). Many people use woodchips. It is a good idea to put some paper towel on top of whatever you use for the first day or two so that they will be able to find their food more easily.

Since they are banty chicks, make sure their food is ground finely enough. Some brands of starter have fairly large chunks. If the chunks in yours are on the big side you can whirl it a bit finer in a coffee mill, blender, etc.

 

[Lisa202]

I gave my bantam chicks a few treats only after 2 weeks, and it was only a little bit of yogurt or cottage cheese (plain and low fat). I've read that if you don't need teeth to eat it, then you don't need the grit. When I gave my chicks some mealworms at 4 weeks, I gave a chick grit (small grit). They really gobbled it up...go figure....rocks must taste good. I also gave them some scrambled egg at 4 weeks, but I only gave them some treats once a day (when I got home from work). You want them to eat mostly the chick starter and not fill up on treats. At 6 weeks old, the only new treat that I have introduced to them is oatmeal and waxworms (yum) and zucchini. I want to give them scratch, but I'm not sure if they are too young (and small) to eat whole sunflower seeds. I have to post another topic to see what everyone thinks about larger treats at 6 weeks.

Besides all the great info on this forum, mypetchicken.com has an e-book on raising baby chicks that you can read. Just look at the bottom of the left navigation bar and you'll find the link. It really helped me.

Good luck and post pictures