Good Afternoon! Can you believe how warm it is out there!! It's 45* here!! I have some baby chicks coming next week and it's been a while since I've had babies so I just want to make sure I have everything in order before they get here....can you let me know if I'm missing anything? ~ hard plastic swimming pool for brooder ~ heat lamp ~ feeder/waterer/food I'm going to line the bottom of the pool with a layer of pine shavings and them paper towel for the couple days - week. Then I was going to remove the paper towel. I wanted to switch out the pine for kitty litter at some point. I use litter under my roosting pole in the coop and it makes for a super quick clean up in the morning. Is this okay for the little ones or do they need the pine shavings for warmth? Also, I had read some were in a thread (of course, can't find it now!) that I should add raw apple cider vinegar to their water. I can't remember when or for how long...I want to say it was for the first couple of days? Is that right? I remember from my last batch of babies that they were fully feathered and out in the coop by 6-7 weeks, but it was just them, no introducing. When can I add these new ones since I will be introducing them into my gang.
I have used play ground sand. $5 for a 50 lb bag at Home depot or lowes: They can eat it and not hurt them you can pick their poop up like kitty litter you don't have to worry about them choking on it. They like it. give it a try. Caroline
