First time flock

SeldomSassy

In the Brooder
Apr 1, 2020
14
8
13
We are raising our first flock. They are between 3 and 4 weeks old. I have a few questions.
A friend who raises chickens thinks 3 of mine are roosters, they are almost 4 week old Americanas and a Welsummer. She said I can sex them by their wing feathers, but I thought they were too old for that. Thoughts? I’m waiting until there are some real definitive signs that they are Roos. For now I’ll treat them all as hens :)
Also, our chicks came unvaccinated. They have been on organic feed until a week ago and I started mixing in some medicated feed. I need to buy more, should I switch to unmediated or continue with medicated for a bit longer?
attatched below are our 3 older chicks and their wing pictures.
AFA22302-DA7C-4DF0-8515-80D2B91E8875.jpeg
510F9AEE-2AED-4E75-A2DD-C55767DC549B.jpeg
69FEA0EC-CFA0-4EC9-9FA9-2E2457092C2B.jpeg
B40919D5-83AB-494E-AA08-254C8B4AC62B.jpeg
44F48C0D-2DBD-42CC-A2D7-DAFF63C7C17A.jpeg
597A66D2-3074-45E2-93EB-AA221CB3A4DD.jpeg
 
Welcome!
Your friend is misinformed about wing sexing. It's done with young chicks who were specifically bred to display that trait, and yours weren't, and are too old even if they were designed to show it.
So far what I'm seeing are all pullets, but another week and better photos will help decide.
In the USA, medicated chick starter has amprolium, which helps manage their exposure to coccidia in their environment, so feeding it for a few weeks during and after their introduction to your soil/ run area is a good idea. Some of us haven't (yet/ ever) had a problem with chickens sickened by coccidiosis, while others have big problems unless their chicks eat the medicated feed for 10 to 12 weeks, while they are on their ground.
Intermittently feeding medicated feed isn't really helpful, and intermittently feeding organic feed doesn't make a lot of sense either, at least to me.
Check the mill date on every bag of feed you buy, and get it within one month of milling, so you can feed it within another month. Old feed of any sort is NOT good!
Mary
 
Welcome!
Your friend is misinformed about wing sexing. It's done with young chicks who were specifically bred to display that trait, and yours weren't, and are too old even if they were designed to show it.
So far what I'm seeing are all pullets, but another week and better photos will help decide.
In the USA, medicated chick starter has amprolium, which helps manage their exposure to coccidia in their environment, so feeding it for a few weeks during and after their introduction to your soil/ run area is a good idea. Some of us haven't (yet/ ever) had a problem with chickens sickened by coccidiosis, while others have big problems unless their chicks eat the medicated feed for 10 to 12 weeks, while they are on their ground.
Intermittently feeding medicated feed isn't really helpful, and intermittently feeding organic feed doesn't make a lot of sense either, at least to me.
Check the mill date on every bag of feed you buy, and get it within one month of milling, so you can feed it within another month. Old feed of any sort is NOT good!
Mary


Mary,
Thank you so much! You are an incredible wealth of information. I felt like they were pulleys but this is my first time raising my own. I figured I’d leave predicting aside and just wait for them to display signs. Mine are still kept in the brooder and haven’t been out in the run yet so it sounds like keeping them on medicated until they have been in the run for a little while is a good plan.
I was thinking they were too old for wing sexing, but I didn’t know that that was breed specific. I love learning new things. And thank you for the info a

thank you so so much.
 
When we got our chicks it was recommended to us that we try the organic because they had less issue with pasty butt, which we have had no issue with. It was just a recommendation. I mixed the medicated into the organic a week ago to start transitioning them over. I come from a horse background where you transition feeds slowly, lol, I guys I’m applying that to the chickens.
 
I come from a horse background where you transition feeds slowly, lol, I guys I’m applying that to the chickens.

It's not a bad idea with chickens though personally I don't find it practical. My birds have always flung out the feed they didn't want to get to the stuff they did want, so I just swap over to new feed immediately nowadays (though I rarely switch feeds).
 
It's not a bad idea with chickens though personally I don't find it practical. My birds have always flung out the feed they didn't want to get to the stuff they did want, so I just swap over to new feed immediately nowadays (though I rarely switch feeds).
That makes a lot of sense. I am finding that as they get older and bigger they are being a bit messier with their food.
 

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