Am I doing this right? First time raising chickens

[travisd]

So I had a spontaneous buy while at big r and am enjoying every minute so far. I have them on medicated feed mixed with ground up oatmeal that I mixed into the food had some diarrhea with a few of them and read on here that oatmeal helps take care of it. So far it is working. I am also giving them vi tal water additive. Just to give and make sure they are healthy. I got 6 chicks in a old dog crate that isn't being used so I took the lid of and am using that to grow them up in. They seem happy when they are awake and eating and drinking a lot as well. Just wondering if there is anything else I should look out for? Here is a few pics of the cuties. If you see anything wrong let me know. They are a week old sometime they sleep right up front next to the light and others times they are sleeping a few feet away. Don't have a thermometer yet but getting one soon.

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[travisd]

 

[mandelyn]

Looks like the light is far enough way to create a cool spot back by the water drinker. They would be peeping loudly if they were too cold. Food, water, clean bedding... Just make sure a dog can't get in there and you're all set! As they get older you'll want to put a brick under the water drinker to reduce the amount of shavings that gets kicked into it. You'll know when it's time to do that. LOL

 

[barred2rock]

I would look into getting something quite a bit larger. They will out grow the crate within a week or two. They will also be able to hop/fly out without some kind of lid on such a low walled container. At some point, you may want to switch to nipple waterers. They're far less messy! A bit off topic, but I'd also suggest looking into fermenting the chick's feed. It reduces consumption thus cost and reduces waste & mess.

ETA: And welcome to BYC!