bad or half-baked chicken advice you've received?

[Gypsi]

Will I be in trouble for quoting this in its entirety? (Just want to be sure everyone sees it) I haven't laughed this hard since Erma Bombeck published her last book.

It sure is a whole lot easier to have chicks AND experience at the same time. I keep a heat lamp over their run in the greenhouse, but in the house, they are in a rubbermaid tub with a screen top, and at night, I put a towel over it. (lumber secured to furniture makes sure my dogs and cats won't dump them over.)



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[al6517]

 

[JD4570]

A lady in Wal-Mart tried to tell me you couldn't feed beans to chickens because they'll explode. Then I exploded, with laughter.

 

[TrystInn]

"I can't believe you have a rooster. Roosters are vicious!"

Really? Mine is a sweetheart. He goes to workshops and get handled by dozens of strangers. Will crow on demand. Loves to have his wattles rubbed, too. So are all my other cockerels, most of which live in pens with at least one other male. So much for the "roosters will always fight" warning.

If you've got a vicious one, make soup. Your friendly neighborhood chicken keepers will always provide you with more than enough roosters.

 

[Manningjw]

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Sarcasm noted. I am simply suggesting that the information people here are attributing(incorrectly) to hatcheries/feedstores/webpages might be a reading comprehension/omission issue and that is why they are confused about what webpages recommend. Either that or the people here are just downright dishonest in their representation of hatchery provided information. Not everyone has raised chickens, they have to look somewhere to have a basic understanding.

I would be more inclined to follow the directions of my local feed stores and every major hatchery and chicken information center than common sense derived from 0 prior experience raising chickens. The bottom line of hatcheries and feed stores is directly impacted by the survival rate of their chicks, as such they are inclined to provide the best possible information to their customers that will result in the highest survival rate.

I hope no one reads this and kills their entire flock of chicks because someone suggested 40 degrees(without a hen or heat lamp) is plenty warm enough in the first week of life. That would be truly tragic and very much an example of half baked advice.

Lets take another look at what mypetchicken.com recommends for heating:

Heating over time
Don't forget that your baby chicks need less and less heat as time goes by. By their 2nd week the heat can be reduced 5 degrees to 90, by the 3rd week by another 5 degrees to 85 and so on. However, this is just a guideline. Continue tuning into their behavioral cues as described above and you'll know how to tweak their heat. Also, keep in mind that some of your chicks will develop faster than others, requiring less heat, while the "runty" ones will want to be closer to the heat lamp. Make sure your heating set-up gives each chick the choice of how much heat is comfortable to them (in other words, don't create a uniform temperature by putting the heat lamp inside the box and then covering the box!)

Do you think that is bad advice?​

 

[al6517]

No not really and I do see your point where as there does have to be some sort of a dummy proof instruction pamplet for those who don't know better.

I guess there are other factors to be considered as well, but then again these all require some common sense to apply them but it is food for thought.

The type of chick feed that's fed, starter crumbles for the masses, but I feed a much higher protien and nutrient level feed to my chicks and they grow better proportioned and feather faster.

The breed of chick has to also be considered as some mature faster as well.

LF or Banty is also a factor.

Types of brooders........... sure they should have of room but some folks don't really follow that all that well, have you seen some of the brooders people have, atrotious.

the fact that they stink and create way to much dust in the house and get moved out sooner than needed or stay in way longer than nessesary.

mistaken human emotion is yet the biggest factor in a poor decision to keep the birds inside way beyond what is resonable, people love to profess what a chicken is thinking and feeling therefore it must be so.

I guess we could beat this horse to death but the fact I am trying to make is yes there is certainly a learning curve, but one must not allways be so gullable as to believe everything they read as the gospel, and have some common sense to know what is good advice vs BS. it's a fine line for sure in some cases but not so much in others.

 

[Manningjw]

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I certainly agree with that. I have seen some very terrible/dangerous information given in many different forums, havent really run across any from hatcheries or my feed store (yet). Anecdotal evidence generally is the the type one should be most cautious of. Luckily there are usually people around to correct miss information.

You are right, there is a LOT to consider and that is why most of the guidelines posted say directly - these are guidelines and you must use your own judgement in response to behaviors you see in your flock. I am sure we pampered our chicks more than they may have needed. That said, they are now happy and healthy egg laying hens thanks to those instructions given to us. That is probably why I don't understand people characterizing it as "dangerous" information.

Raising chicks via a broody hen and raising chicks via a brooding box is a whole different ball game. The common ground i guess would be the heat lamp aka mom. I wonder how hot the mother hen is while she's broody?

 

[TrystInn]

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105 or thereabouts.

 

[Manningjw]

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105 or thereabouts.

Talk about baking the little chicks!

You know what i would love to know - is it OK to bake/break up egg shells and mix with their food to help with calcium needs or not? I have heard people say both(even in this thread...). I have heard that egg shells will increase the risk of egg eaters - but then others say that if you bake it and crush it, there is no added risk because they don't know it's egg shell. Thoughts/source of information on this?

 

[runsw/scissors]

I feed the eggshells back to my hens. I don't even bake them! Just wash them and then smoosh 'em good with a rolling pin...