First Time Chick Parents, Spring 2016

[circlehouse]

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Picked up our peeps yesterday! Opened our box and another one had snuck in! So now we have nine. They are all doing well. Cozy under their mama heating pad in their coop, even though it got down to 27 degrees last night! I kept checking on them, they were all quiet, asleep under their "mama".

They are doing great today running from their water and fermented feed and then back under mama. So sweet!

 

[Blooie]

Picked up our peeps yesterday! Opened our box and another one had snuck in! So now we have nine. They are all doing well. Cozy under their mama heating pad in their coop, even though it got down to 27 degrees last night! I kept checking on them, they were all quiet, asleep under their "mama".

They are doing great today running from their water and fermented feed and then back under mama. So sweet!

Cute! And that's a nice set-up! Love the shot of the 2 little ones together. Sounds like you are liking MHP, too!

 

[circlehouse]

Cute!  And that's a nice set-up!  Love the shot of the 2 little ones together.  Sounds like you are liking MHP, too!

Mama heating pad is the way to go! No risk of fire and the cozy more natural feel it gives is what made me want to try it. And how happy the chicks are sealed the deal!

 

[MiniIndyRanch]

I made the bucket with horizontal nipples for my older chicks and when they moved out to the coop, I decided to leave it in the brooder with the new batch of chicks. At four days old they had figured out how to drink from it! (Probably because they had filled up the other waterer with wood pellets and had no water left to drink!) I was amazed they figured it out so quickly. Now I have a 5 gallon in the coop and a one gallon in the brooder and all are doing great!

I have a horizontal nipple set up in my brooder and my 3 day old chicks have zero interest in the traditional waterer, but I'm not sure they are strong enough for the spring-action of the nipple yet. I've been watching them all day since they arrived and tapping the spring for them... Good to know they might be able to do it on their own by tomorrow!

 

[tumalochick]

I have a horizontal nipple set up in my brooder and my 3 day old chicks have zero interest in the traditional waterer, but I'm not sure they are strong enough for the spring-action of the nipple yet. I've been watching them all day since they arrived and tapping the spring for them... Good to know they might be able to do it on their own by tomorrow! 

I noticed they don't have to push hard at all, as long as they nose it over and get their beak in the corner, it dispenses water. So they aren't actually pushing it straight in. Just watch for lethargy to make sure they aren't dehydrated, but mine sure caught on quick!

 

[Blooie]

Hatched on Tuesday, using the waterer on Wednesday.

 

[mamatink7]

Well ours are officially in the awkward stage. They have my sympathy, I was awkward as a teenager too. I had to hold them all because the second I let them go and sit on my hand, they fly down and clean up the crumbs from my kiddos left under the kitchen table. Ethel- BR Lucy- BO Lacey- SLW Rose- EE And it was a sad week. We went from 5 chicks to 4. Our little sweet Goldie (a bantam) had a slipped tendon that was getting worse, so my husband culled her.

awww I'm sorry you lost one. Yeah that awkward stage should be interesting lol. Thx for sharing pics of the girls

 

[LaBellaVita]

New here, and also a first timer. Picked my chicks up at the feed store this morning. I got 2 blue andalusians, 2 sicilian buttercups, 2 welsummers, and 2 cuckoo marans. All are eating, drinking ando are quite active.

 

[MuppetChickens]

I have been giving my group plain yogurt & chopped, hard-boiled eggs & they LOVE it, too! So funny to see how excited they get!

You may want to treat for coccidiosis with Corid from tractor supply or a feed store. I treated the entire flock. My little runt was acting the same way plus some bloody stools. She would peep quietly with her eyes shut and not eat or drink..God love her. I was determined to not lose her. We would have been devastated. I dropper feed her water through the side of her beak. I didn't force it. I also gave save-a-chick vitamins and electrolytes and the probiotics. I mixed plain Greek yogurt with their medicated starter crumbles and also mashed up hard boiled egg in it a couple times per day. They went NUTS over that combo!! She pepped up in a couple days She is noticeably smaller than her 3 sisters but she is fine now, 3 weeks later, and acting like a chicken should!

Also, make sure they are warm enough. At 3 weeks I had mine at around 80 degrees at the warmer end of he brooder. I hope that this helps. Let me know how it's doing please.

 

[MuppetChickens]

This looks very nice! Thanks for sharing!

Success!!! Put my 9 girls outside and my 2 ducks. Set up their lamps for them plus shavings for bedding. Everyone survived and thrived. Preening now after breakfast and foraging around in the grass. 60 degrees right now on this morning. My ducks and 1 chick are 5 weeks, the other 7 are 4 weeks. I couldn't handle it because they were getting sooooo big they would walk around the laundry room floor and poop everywhere. It was gross. They are growing up so fast. The littles still have a fuzzy back of their heads but I look at them like a garden everytime they are outside they grow more feathers everyday.