- Thread starter
- #11
Alex S
Songster
Definitely gonna try pine pellets... but at tsc because Willico is a 2 hour drive and a ferry ride away xDPlan for a lot more space than you think they will need. Many of us fell for the trap of building the coop while the chicks grew up. Naturally the first couple weeks you'll be hanging around within 10 feet of the brooder box at all times ... so plan to build and be COMPLETED by then. Because the little suckers grow and they grow QUICK- and by that second week they get realllllly tired of being in the same space with each other and by week three ... yeah.
Have a 2nd box available to put them in while you clean their main brooder. Trust me.
BUY CORID. Have it on hand the second your chicks arrive. Finding that your chicks have come down with coccidiosis symptoms late in the evening - ALWAYS happens right as the farm supply stores close -- can find you in the morning with dead babies. It can be that fast. I like the liquid better myself. And YES, even if you're feeding medicated chick starter, even then ... have the CORID on hand.
A dropper - or 1ml syringes.
Something to grind their food down a little more- a mortar and pestle or a food processor. Every batch ends up being a little different texture in the crumbles - so sometimes they're just fine, and sometimes they're a little big, so I grind them down.
I live in the brooder plate/MHP (momma heating pad, there are lots of threads) camp when there's no hen available for the job. I loathe heat lamps for many reasons, but not providing darkness at night is their greatest crime. Chicks do better when there's a long dark night like they would have under a hen. They need that rest- and frankly, having chicks active all night leads to more issues with each other- someone is trying to sleep, someone else decides they're going to pick at them and there is NOWHERE to hide- then there's blood- then a huge problem. If everyone sleeps at the same time- and chicks who need naps during the day have a darkened warm space they can retreat to where they're not getting run over- makes for a better overall experience. Heat plates will get your chicks used to day and night immediately, which helps so much.
For bedding - especially for the first week - I start with paper towels over the top of the entire brooder surface: Why? 1. they don't eat the paper towels, 2. YOU CAN SEE EVERY POOP (very important in identifying any problems early), 3. VERY easy to roll up and dispose of ... and 4. TRACTION. Never, ever put them on bare cardboard or other slick surfaces. If on a counter, put a washcloth under the feet. Fixing them is harder than preventing the problem.
Underneath the paper towels I use pine bedding pellets- Natures or Blue Mountain are the brands that come to mind.
Nature's Bedding Pellets, 40 lb. - Wilco Farm Stores
I like them so much more than shavings, having used both. Why ... they absorb moisture readily. Poop on a pine shaving sits there. Poop on a pine pellet starts to get dehydrated, making everything cleaner. Also- Water will be spilled. All the time. As the pellets break apart, they make really nice dust bathing material. Also --- they are way too big to be eaten by chicks that first few days. I use them from the START underneath the paper towels. That increases the drying capacity of the paper towels - keeps them from sticking to the bottom of the box. Chicks are poop machines and that poop is like GLUE when it dries.
After that first week, I only put paper towels under the brooder plate where they sleep and I change it at least twice a day because that's where they'll lay down ... and poop ... all night.
Get high quality TP (like Charmin) - and make sure you have a functioning hair dryer. Pasty butt is almost a given, and cleaning their little delicate tushes that just closed their guts in hours before calls for soft things. Paper towels are not soft. And Kleenex doesn't absorb moisture very well. Charmin toilet paper squares make fantastic luxury chick bath robes to keep them warm and are extremely soft on that delicate skin. Find a long sleeve t-shirt or sweat shirt with a couple inches of space between your wrist and the sleeve.
