Chicks for the first Time

[Timskins]

Mine are 3 days old today and I gave them regular crumbles and regular water from day one and they took to both right away. You might consider water supplements if you have some slow going chicks.

 

[Nashonii]

Thank you Timskins. I appreciate your reply!

 

[kynewbchickie]

I gave natural apple cider vinegar (1 tbsp to 1 gal water mixture) in their water to ward off pasty butt, and regular starter crumbles.

 

[caseebeths]

Welcome. .those are pretty chickens

 

[eyotig25]

We gave ours the crumble and straight water right away too....that is what they were eating when we picked them up from our agway...we will be starting to put acv in their water as we r getting a lot of gucky buildup in their waterer....good luck with ur chicks we r in love with ours. ...we just had one squat so we will be getting eggs soon yay us...so excited!

 

[eyotig25]

Question...what kind of chicks r those? They r so pretty

 

[eyotig25]

Ok I have a question about nesting boxes....we r just about done with the construction of them...all that is le ft to do is put the hinges on the pull up top but my concern is the material and how to keep it in the box.....I put what I thought was a lot of pine shavings but they can seem to get enough around them to make a nest....should I put something extra in there like a container or n basket to give the nesting place more of a nest feeling or will they make do?

 

[PharmGirl]

Mine make do, I have pine chips and they create a circle in the middle. Just have to put enough in so they don't crack the eggs when they lay.

 

[boyswillbeboys]

My chicks are 9 weeks old now, and are all going through what I guess is the juvenile molt. They look better every day, but my coop and run have enough feathers to stuff a pillow with. every morning my leghorns fly down from their roost spot, and I am showered with feathers while I fill the feeder. My cockerels are looking less white than before, but I still have no way to tell which are the redsussex and which is the Colombian rock, I have enough girls to keep them all happy, I think, but we will see what happens over the winter, as they all mature, I may have a bloody mess in the snow, if I have to cull one or two boys.

 

[winchuck]

I also question the nesting boxes in that everyone is shoving their ever growing bodies into those boxes to sleep at night. They now have to sleep three to a box instead of all of them in one box. Will there be a time when they actually switch over to actually using them for lying eggs? We attached a board across the bottom edge to keep the straw in the boxes along with pine shavings. We did attach a board across the outside top with bungie cord as we saw our Jack Russel try to open them by standing on a bale of hay and realized that a coon could do it easier with or without the bale of hay to stand on. Maggie is smart but a coon can be much more dedicated to a task resulting in food. Thank God that bears are not into chickens! We have a resident red fox seen in early morning. I now MUST make sure to get my flock safely put up for the night for sure! I am still feeding them starter food, but it will switch over on the next purchase as they are almost fully feathered out. Bubba looks like carmel pudding with white cream while the girls are dark brown red with blue green tail feathers. I am eager to see what colors their chicks will be.