chick safety in the coop

[CK Chickadilly]

How wonderful!

My Bantie hatched out 15 as small as she is they were all very healthy & I just let her do her thing with her babies. She is bossy so she shoos all the other chickens away & pulls feathers too

when her & the babies are coming thru.

They eat the starter feed & I give them bread treats & sunflower seeds...etc. They are really growing & are about 4 weeks now. The little roos are trying to crow....more of a squeak yet. I just don't worry about them too much, mama knows what's best I figure. But I did train them to the barn so in the evening, she takes them there to go to bed.

Good luck with the little chickies! Glad it all went well!

You gonna post pics? Love pics!

 

[Intileo]

Hello CK Chickadilly!
Fifteen is an impressive number indeed!!!! I didn't know whether they were too many for her to look after- especially once they're free ranging. She seems to be doing wonderfully though. I don't like to mess with nature.

Here's a question: we only intend to keep 6 of the chicks and give six away in two groups of three, to friends, who'd like a mini flock. Is this a bad time of year for chicks alone under heat lights? It goes below zero here in winter (not for 3 months here) at night quite often, and it's just plain cold during the day often (though sometimes it's warm and nice

). Should I make my friends wait until spring for their chicks? once these have got independent and have real feathers? Or just pass 'em along now while they're still super cute. Will the hen pine terribly for them?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I know what you mean about the cold in Florida! I recently moved to KY from Tampa, having lived there 5 years. I remember talking to a friend or family memeber on the phone and saying how cold it was. They would ask how cold, then laugh at me and say it must be nice for it to be 'that cold' lol. I don't think it ever really got that cold in Tampa, though. In the 30's and 20's sometimes, but never lower when I was there.
OK to answer your question, the ONLY thing I feed my chickens (roosters, hens, chicks, and teens) is chick starter. The feed stores here don't carry the medicated starter anymore. I have heard that any scratch grain is not good in the summer, because it makes them get hotter. I do feed mine cracked corn occasionally, but that is more of a treat than anything. I will get scratch feed this winter though, in addition to the starter. They are pretty small banties, and they'll need all the help they can get to stay warm!! Also whenever you switch an animals food, you are supposed to do it gradually, over a few days at least, if not a few weeks, so their bodies can adjust to it. And if they are all in a coop and run, do they get any type of grit? That might have been your problem as well, with giving them grain. TSC sells small bags of pre-prep grit, for chicks and adults, FYI.
My chickens are all free range, except for mamas with real little babies, so they get a lot of different things that way as well. I have 5 hens with chicks right now, and 2 are full time free rangers, their chicks are about 4-6 weeks old, plus they each only have 3. I also have 2 that are part time free rangers, because one has 3 week olds, and the other has 2 week olds. They are both banties, and one has 18, the other has 13, so this is part of the reason as well. I also have one that just hatched yesterday, who has 7. She is currently in a rabbit hutch, that is off the ground, and will be there for a bit longer, cuz her tractor isn't finished yet. But as soon as I get it done, she'll be in a tractor as well. Will probably let her and her chicks out when they are about 2-3 weeks old, during the day, as well. I have pics of her and her kids posted in the incubating section under <Update> she's hatching!!<fuzzy butt pics!> if you want to see them!!
I think I covered everything, but if not just let me know! Sorry I took so long to get back, but I am taking college classes online, and this was my final week!

 

[Intileo]

I'm embarrassed to say that when I said 'below zero' I meant 'zero degrees centigrade' (=32 degrees Farenheit) cos I'm English and still think in that if I'm not careful. So, yes, it doesn't generally get colder than a pretty pathetic 26 degrees F some nights. I used to live in MD, with snow every winter, but I still find it really cold when it's 'really cold' here- even it is only Florida cold. I think my blood's gone thin...
Thanks for your info!

So you're saying you feed all your adult birds chick starter for their whole lives? Did I understand you correctly? If so, interesting.

Our hens are freeranged from 3pm every day til sunset. And our house used to be an oyster business, so there no end of oyster shell in the soil here. It's everywhere you look in fact. So I don't think grit was a problem.

Thanks for getting back to me so fully!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
It is a different kind of cold in Florida. People don't realize that. They think 50 degrees is not that bad, but it is like subzero temps to a Floridian!! Yes I do feed mine chick starter, and nothing else. I have only had my chickens since June, so as far as their whole lives goes, as long as I have them, that's what they'll get. I have read others posts on here that have said chick starter has too much protein, and I should feed flock raiser instead. But the flock raiser that I have here has more protein in it than the chick starter does!! I do get flock raiser, and feed some to my guineas (they eat both flock raiser and chick starter), and I feed it to my ducks. The ducks are supposed to be big anyway, so I doubt it would hurt them!! And since the chickens are all free range, they burn off a lot of that from running around the yard! I have some babies that I think I mentioned in my last post, that free range with their mamas. That will probably have to stop. I have had to 'wrangle' them back into their tractors the past few nights! The mamas just want to set on the ground somewhere with them. And the babies I have that are about 2 months old are like any other kid...you have to make them go to bed. I have to get my 3 year old to help me, cause once I get 4 or 5 in, and go get the others, the first ones are back out already! Silly chicks!
Now there is a difference between grit and oyster shell, but if they free range for part of the day, they probably do get enough grit, from dirt and small rocks and such. It's hard to say what killed your hens...sometimes they just die...