Chicks arriving in 2 weeks! (Update: Finally here!)

[chickenmomma16]

Quote:

Gosh I've lost 3 red leghorns... The first 2 were weak on arrival but the 3rd seemed fine until last night and died this afternoon. Nothing was wrong, no pasty butt even. The last one I have has the worst pasty bum and she seems okay otherwise so far.

I hope she does okay. I would like at least 1 white layer... I pulled out all my arsenal to stop her nasty butt. I am off tomorrow so she will get a little more attention then. Other than having problems with the Red Leghorns everyone else is good and driving me crazy already! No updated pics yet. I have very poor lighting for pictures in the. Hopefully will get more tomorrow!

Have you used a thermometer to check the temps in various parts of the brooder?
Some chick vitamins or other booster in the water might help for shipping stressed chicks.
The hatchery might refund you for chicks dying in the first couple days, contact them.

If anything my brooder is too warm. I made some adjustments this morning and I will check on them in a bit. I have Save-a-chick electrolytes in their water and have enough for the next week. I gave oatmeal as a snack and they wouldn't touch the plain yogurt. They also have grit of course. Some had a little pasty butt from the stress of travel but she is the only one left. She is doing well otherwise pecking at other chicks and holding her own. She is quite sassy actually! She definitely takes little power naps under the lights more than the others. I did call McMurray and they refunded me no questions asked. I would order from them again, but I would probably call them and order over the phone. If I had known the Leghorns were so much smaller I would have ordered more.

The chicks are kicking so much food out of their feeder! It is a galvanized/ mason jar chick feeder with the little holes but despite raising it a bit the chicks are jumping on and scratching out at least a cup of food each day, little terrors. Any tips to save some food?

I'm having the same problem... Mine are only kicking out about a 1/4 of a cup a day, but still.

 

[WashingtonWino]

Do you think a little dot of food coloring on the head would work? People do that on puppies sometimes.

 

[KensingtonHens]

im waiting for my little 5 bantams to arrive in...2weeks! Okay maybe three they're due to ship from cackle feb 23d. Reading through all your posts really helped me better understand how this will work. So thank you for all the sharing! I've got everything except grit I had read you could give them some weeds along with the dirt and they'd pick what they need from the dirt. What do you think?
This will be my first time with chicks, we had 3 standards but they came to us as 3 month olds.

 

[chickenmomma16]

Do you think a little dot of food coloring on the head would work? People do that on puppies sometimes.

Most of my chicks are dark, I don't think it would show up very well. I was wondering about blue nail polish on their toes?

 

[chickenmomma16]

im waiting for my little 5 bantams to arrive in...2weeks! Okay maybe three they're due to ship from cackle feb 23d. Reading through all your posts really helped me better understand how this will work. So thank you for all the sharing! I've got everything except grit I had read you could give them some weeds along with the dirt and they'd pick what they need from the dirt. What do you think?
This will be my first time with chicks, we had 3 standards but they came to us as 3 month olds.

I'm glad our posts helped. I love BYC!!!

I would still get grit. I didn't have it at first and thought the same thing about throwing plants in there but only about half were interested in the dandelion w/dirt. The grit took care of the rest. its only $6-7 and worth it IMO.

 

[WashingtonWino]

Most of my chicks are dark, I don't think it would show up very well.  I was wondering about blue nail polish on their toes? 

Just searching around, seems like the nail polish doesn't tend to last. One person suggested the food coloring on their lighter bellies if they have a dark head. Someone else suggested little multicolored zip ties around the leg with the end clipped shot and room for growth.

 

[Kadu]

Can we sharpie their legs? is that bad for them? I do want to mark my roos so I can pet them often and tame them...

 

[aart]

I'm looking for a way to mark the chicks I want to keep. I tried the foot bands but they are too big. Any other options?


Quote:

Gosh I've lost 3 red leghorns... The first 2 were weak on arrival but the 3rd seemed fine until last night and died this afternoon. Nothing was wrong, no pasty butt even. The last one I have has the worst pasty bum and she seems okay otherwise so far.

I hope she does okay. I would like at least 1 white layer... I pulled out all my arsenal to stop her nasty butt. I am off tomorrow so she will get a little more attention then. Other than having problems with the Red Leghorns everyone else is good and driving me crazy already! No updated pics yet. I have very poor lighting for pictures in the. Hopefully will get more tomorrow!

Have you used a thermometer to check the temps in various parts of the brooder?
Some chick vitamins or other booster in the water might help for shipping stressed chicks.
The hatchery might refund you for chicks dying in the first couple days, contact them.

If anything my brooder is too warm. I made some adjustments this morning and I will check on them in a bit. I have Save-a-chick electrolytes in their water and have enough for the next week. I gave oatmeal as a snack and they wouldn't touch the plain yogurt. They also have grit of course. Some had a little pasty butt from the stress of travel but she is the only one left. She is doing well otherwise pecking at other chicks and holding her own. She is quite sassy actually! She definitely takes little power naps under the lights more than the others. I did call McMurray and they refunded me no questions asked. I would order from them again, but I would probably call them and order over the phone. If I had known the Leghorns were so much smaller I would have ordered more.

I'd stick with just chick starter for food, gives them everything they need and it's simple.



I use zipties, the really skinny ones, works for chicks and works for adults too.
You do have to change them out as the chicks grow tho.

I have some jewelry sized cutters that work perfect.

Side cutters for trimming tail ends absolutely flush with lock for no sharp corners exposed.

End cutter work great for cutting right thru the lock for removing zipties grown too small, much easier than trying to get side cutter between tie and leg.

The zipties I got are about 1/8" wide and 4" long, great for tiny chicks and fine for adult birds too.




Henny at 3 days old




Henny at 3 weeks old




Henny at 5 months old




They work good for feathered feeters too fit between the feather shafts

 

[chickenmomma16]

I like the zip-tie idea. Too bad I live so far out. I love my country home but sometimes I wish I lived closer to basic stores. I'm about a 30min drive (one way) from everything except 2 feed stores, a bar, small convenience store, and out of all things a pizza place. What more could I want!

 

[aart]

I like the zip-tie idea. Too bad I live so far out. I love my country home but sometimes I wish I lived closer to basic stores. I'm about a 30min drive (one way) from everything except 2 feed stores, a bar, small convenience store, and out of all things a pizza place. What more could I want!

I bought the zipties and the cutters (set of 5) online.