I have a 1 week and a 4 day old hatchlings. I am trying to mimic what my broody hen would have done (if she were a good mother)
Since one chick was alone for nearly 5 days I held him/her a lot, nestled under my chin for several minutes (more like 10-15) a few times a day and made noises like a mother hen would. I took him outside in the garden on day 3 and showed him sandy soil- he chased down his first super tiny bug. The younger chick follows big siblings lead on everything and he is a good teacher.
They have grit sprinkled in the brooder and a clump of grass with sandy soil attached to introduce to local coccidia in the soil. I feed nonmedicated chick crumble because my other birds are vaccinated and they are being transitioned to this feed for a while- it’s complicated but short story is I have several ages in the flock).
They are all doing just fine.
Since one chick was alone for nearly 5 days I held him/her a lot, nestled under my chin for several minutes (more like 10-15) a few times a day and made noises like a mother hen would. I took him outside in the garden on day 3 and showed him sandy soil- he chased down his first super tiny bug. The younger chick follows big siblings lead on everything and he is a good teacher.
They have grit sprinkled in the brooder and a clump of grass with sandy soil attached to introduce to local coccidia in the soil. I feed nonmedicated chick crumble because my other birds are vaccinated and they are being transitioned to this feed for a while- it’s complicated but short story is I have several ages in the flock).
They are all doing just fine.
