Day old brooder questions ;splayed leg, bedding,not drinking

[emilythestrange]

Hi all
First time with new chicks
They are a day and a half old
This is my brooder
I’ve got this water hopper today and they aren’t drinking out of it yet , I’ve tried to show them and dip their beaks in and such
They are definitely pecking at the chick crumb
One or two seem to be getting splayed when walking what should I do. They are like bambi on ice

I have shredded paper and pine wood shavings I can use thanks

 

[Swbertrand1]

Pine shavings are ideal, but this young, we find that a towel put on the floor of the brooder works best to get them to stand properly because they can get a good foot-hold on a towel. Do this ASAP! Splayed legs are NOT good, and the slick floor they're on will make the problem worse in a hurry!

To clean the towel between washings, we cut paper towel sections to about 2" x 3" in stacks to keep their poops picked up (do that about 4 times a day). Once they're about a week or two old, you can add pine shavings to the bottom with our without the towel, and that will give them enough traction to move around as they should and build their leg muscles.

As for drinking, the lip on that water supply might be just a tad high for them. If you can find a small, shallow, but heavy bowl, that might work better, but you need to put some marbles or rocks in either so they can really only get their beaks in the water. Chicks can die from drowning if they fall in water that's too deep. With the water station you have, you could add a few pieces of small plywood beside the waterer to get them up to the height they need to reach it, but add marbles or rocks deep enough to rise to the surface of the water so they don't drown if they were to fall in. They are pretty clumsy in their first few days, so do this ASAP too. Otherwise, you're doing the right thing by gently dipping their beaks in the water to show them where it is and how to drink however; I just don't think they can easily reach that one.

Food really should be in a chick feeder and not on the floor for sanitary reasons, although you'll find that baby chicks will soil their food too in a feeder too - it's just what they do Same with water, dip their beak into the food bits in a feeder, and they'll pick that up quickly as well.

A good setup for young chicks might look like this; in fact this is exactly what we use for our chicks minus a tiny but heavy little bowl that we use for the first 1-3 days just because it was available:
https://www.amazon.com/Cackle-Hatchery-Chick-Feeder-Waterer/dp/B082YJVTHJ

Otherwise, everything looks fine. Monitor their heat with a thermometer if you can, but you'll know if the heat is too high or two low: chicks will huddle under the heat if there's not enough, and move outward away from the heat if it's too high.

Welcome to baby chicks! They're one of the cutest and most rewarding "pets" you'll ever have!

 

[GC-Raptor]

I put down about 1 inch/2.5 cm of pine shavings.
Then I put paper towels over it.

The first day I sprinkle feed on top to make sure they are eating. I change daily.
I keep paper towels over shavings for 3 days or until I know all are eating from the feeder and drinking.
Then I remove paper towels.

GC

 

[Swbertrand1]

See how GC-Raptor's waterer is much smaller and shorter at the edge? I think you need something like that for these 1-2 day old chicks. There is a base to some of the standard feeder/waterer containers that is SUPER narrow, so narrow that you'd have to stuff the chick into it for them to fall in.