Day old baby chicks... Hard to raise?

[JessHall]

They are pretty easy, especially if you have cared for children... they eat, they drink, they sleep, they poop, and they make noise, and they poop...

I would recommend finding a place out of the way of your dog, but maybe teaching your kids about them. My two year old did great. "Momma, he pooped, momma he's hungry, oooohhhh, momma they seeping" He learned to know when they needed something and somehow had enough self control to just tell me and let me take care of it. I didn't have one problem with my son and the chickens. Buuuut all kids are different

and you know yours a lot better than I do.

As far as a brooder, my hubby built a barn looking one, with heat lamps in the roof of it. It is pretty cute. We kept it in the enclosed porch. It had a latch on it so that nothing can get paws or tiny fingers into it!

Good luck and have lots of fun!

 

[CHIC]

I'm thinkin I might have to build something with a lock to keep my kids out! I wanted to do a box to be more cost efficient but I know my kids and they will find whatever means possible to get to those chicks

 

[rachelbinnc]

The easiest pet I've ever had.

I put mine in the laundry room in a big plastic rubbermade tub with a heat lamp. I was most afraid of them getting too cold because of the air conditioner. I just closed the vents into the laundry room and it became a little sauna. They loved it in there. Make sure that the box they are in is big enough so that they can move out from under the heat lamp if they are too hot. They do a good job of going to the spot in the box where they feel most comfortable. Oh, BTW, for the first week or so, we only handled the chicks outside of the brooder for short period of times. Any longer and they start to cool off, which isn't good at all for a young chick. We hung out a lot at the side of the brooder with our hands in the box, getting them used to our touch while they stayed nice and toasty warm under the heat lamp.

The rest of it is SUPER easy. I used papertowels on the floor of the tub for easy clean-up -- just roll up and bury in the compost bin. The food is sooo easy, just get the chick stuff from your local feed store. I didn't even get a food dish. Just spread it out on the paper towels. They love to scratch anyway. The only thing I would get is a special chick waterer. They are very inexpensive, but are hard for chicks to tip over and are made so that the chicks won't accidentally drown themselves. Keep lots of food and fresh water available and they should be fine. They are pretty happy just to eat, poo, and grow.

Good luck!

 

[Freyja]

We got our first chickens as day-olds and they're eight weeks old now and thriving. I read everything about chickens that I could get my hands on at our local branch library and through ILL before I discovered BYC. This place is great -- so much information here. People are very kind and helpful and answer questions so quickly. The search function works great too.

We set up our brooder in the living room and that did a lot to assuage my worries -- I could see them anytime and know that they were doing fine. We did have one RIR that pecked all the others continuously but the people here gave me some good ideas on what to do and she stopped. It was easy to monitor all that here in the house. They got a lot of attention and handling -- snuggling when we were working on the computer or watching a movie, riding on our shoulders around the house -- and they are very friendly now. You'll have a lot of fun! Take pics, at least once a week -- you'll be amazed at how fast they grow.

 

[Uzuri]

I thought it was going to be bloody well impossible.

but I've got 7 12-weekers, and didn't lose any to this point

If they get to you healthy, they're actually pretty hard to kill (or at least I assume so, since I didn't manage to kill any

).

 

[Buugette]

Quote:
I'm sure most will disagree... but my 5 new babies are on the kitchen table. We don't really use it except to put the mail on... we use the dining room table for dinner and such...

I like them where I can see them and get to them. They are in a clear plastic bin so they can see us when we are in the kitchen... and I enjoy bringing them into the living room in the evenings.

D

 

[Peeper7]

Quote:
I'm sure most will disagree... but my 5 new babies are on the kitchen table. We don't really use it except to put the mail on... we use the dining room table for dinner and such...

I like them where I can see them and get to them. They are in a clear plastic bin so they can see us when we are in the kitchen... and I enjoy bringing them into the living room in the evenings.

D

My kinda quarters. That's why I brooded in my bathtub in bathroom attached to bedroom. Messy but fun. Chicks are usually easy to raise if you pay attention to their needs: warmth (about 100 degrees F to start), no drafts (bathtub with high sides); water from a safe waterer... i had so many this year cuz I went hatch happy that I used several little containers for water. I filled them up with marbles (I used the sparkly stones you use for flower vases) so that only about 1/2" of water was there. They peck at shiny things -- the marbles are a great way to start turkey poults.
paper towels are great bedding unless you have LOTS of chicks.
A good chill could kill them or cause a disease that could kill them.
Have FUN! I love raising chicks.

 

[kelidei]

Quote:
Hoe-leeee Cr*p!

 

[paintedsavvy]

Quote:
Hoe-leeee Cr*p!

I know freakin crazy right?

 

[magsrags]

Quote:
Wow, that was an eye opener!