Brooding chicks in plastic bins has worked well for me, the only thing I would say is, I do not recommend clamping heat lamps to the bins, I hang them on chains that can be raised and lowered. Those clamps can fail and the heat lamps can cause fires.
When the chicks are around 4 weeks old and feathered they no longer need heat and can be moved out to the coop. If the coop isn't ready split them up between 2 or 3 bins when they are too big for one. If you have or can find some 1/2 patio blocks to set the waterers on they will stay MUCH cleaner.
I feed starter for at least 4 weeks, and up to 8 weeks or so, the higher protein will support rapid feathering (feathers are protein). I switch them over to grower and leave them on that or an all-flock feed until they reach point of lay. Because my laying flock does not currently include any males, I switch to layer. Layer has calcium mixed in, which younger chicks and males don't really need, and the younger chicks in particular can't really metabolize well, it can cause kidney problems. You can keep them on grower and just make sure they have access to oyster shell or another calcium source, or switch to layer, once they reach about 5 months of age or so.
I am about halfway through the last bag of layer I bought, and since I keep oyster shell down all the time I am seriously considering not buying layer anymore, and just using grower for all but young chicks. Simplifies things.
I have never heard of meat causing aggression in chickens, in fact some people make a point of feeding raw meat to their chickens to support protein levels. I gave my girls the turkey carcass from last Thanksgiving's dinner and they cleaned it completely in a couple of days. Last night's special snack was meal worms. I also feed scrambled and hard boiled eggs. Just make sure they have grit available if you are feeding anything other than the mash/crumble/pellet.
As far as vegetable and fruit items they can't have, I figure they know what to avoid in my compost pile, which they routinely explore with (so far) no bad result.
Sudden death in chicks three weeks old can happen for reasons you can't see - it usually isn't contagious, but there really isn't a way to know unless you have the bird necropsied. Give the others at least another week, maybe two, to be on the safe side before you merge with the rest of your flock. One person on another forum adds one bird from the existing flock to the new chicks/birds and waits to see if it shows any sign of illness before merging the entire groups, just in case the new ones are carriers of something they don't suffer from. Sort of like the canary in the coal mine.
When the chicks are around 4 weeks old and feathered they no longer need heat and can be moved out to the coop. If the coop isn't ready split them up between 2 or 3 bins when they are too big for one. If you have or can find some 1/2 patio blocks to set the waterers on they will stay MUCH cleaner.
I feed starter for at least 4 weeks, and up to 8 weeks or so, the higher protein will support rapid feathering (feathers are protein). I switch them over to grower and leave them on that or an all-flock feed until they reach point of lay. Because my laying flock does not currently include any males, I switch to layer. Layer has calcium mixed in, which younger chicks and males don't really need, and the younger chicks in particular can't really metabolize well, it can cause kidney problems. You can keep them on grower and just make sure they have access to oyster shell or another calcium source, or switch to layer, once they reach about 5 months of age or so.
I am about halfway through the last bag of layer I bought, and since I keep oyster shell down all the time I am seriously considering not buying layer anymore, and just using grower for all but young chicks. Simplifies things.
I have never heard of meat causing aggression in chickens, in fact some people make a point of feeding raw meat to their chickens to support protein levels. I gave my girls the turkey carcass from last Thanksgiving's dinner and they cleaned it completely in a couple of days. Last night's special snack was meal worms. I also feed scrambled and hard boiled eggs. Just make sure they have grit available if you are feeding anything other than the mash/crumble/pellet.
As far as vegetable and fruit items they can't have, I figure they know what to avoid in my compost pile, which they routinely explore with (so far) no bad result.
Sudden death in chicks three weeks old can happen for reasons you can't see - it usually isn't contagious, but there really isn't a way to know unless you have the bird necropsied. Give the others at least another week, maybe two, to be on the safe side before you merge with the rest of your flock. One person on another forum adds one bird from the existing flock to the new chicks/birds and waits to see if it shows any sign of illness before merging the entire groups, just in case the new ones are carriers of something they don't suffer from. Sort of like the canary in the coal mine.
