First Time for Mail Order Chicks

[TGinTX]

I ordered some mail order chicks for the first time and they are arriving today or tomorrow. I saw a post where crackle suggests extra heat and only heat lamps. I only have a dozen bantams coming - I hope to get about 6 hens to keep since we can't have roosters here. My question is if anyone has put mail order chicks into an incubator that uses a fan to distribute heat. I have put struggling chicks (where they got too cold for whatever reason) back into an incubator with success. I was considering 2 or 3 hours at 99 F and maybe some bottle caps with water to ensure they get good and toasty. Has anyone tried or have thoughts?

 

[Brooks_]

Do you not have a heat source for the brooder?

 

[LorLie]

Chicks will need constant heat for weeks, starting at around 100°F upon arrival, and decreasing by 5° per week until they’re at least a month or more old.

 

[Brooks_]

Chicks will need constant heat for weeks, starting at around 100°F upon arrival, and decreasing by 5° per week until they’re at least a month or more old.

I take a more simplified approach. I provide a warm area (could be as high as 100) and a cool area; they manage it from there.

 

[TGinTX]

I have a ceramic lamp heater that I usually use where I adjust with a thermometer and then I raise it every 2 or 3 days. I have hatched eggs before but I have never done the shipped chicks. I'm a bit nervous they'll be cold upon arrival.

 

[Brooks_]

Some electrolyte water for the first couple days is the only thing I would do differently for shipped vs hatched chicks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As long as the chicks are acting normally you don't need to do anything different than you typically do with your incubator hatched chicks. Some people like to add stuff to their first water to give them an extra boost, whether they are shipped or from the incubator. It won't hurt but I don't find that to be necessary. If the shipment is delayed or they look like they had a rough shipment then giving them all something in the water is a good idea.

If I have an individual chick having a rough time, whether incubator or shipped, I use a medicine dropper to put a drop of hummingbird liquid on the tip of its beak. I put it on the tip of the beak so I don't drown the chick forcing food inside its beak. You can use a pippette or something else to place that drop. You can use sugar water or electrolytes. I use hummingbird liquid since I always have some on hand. The idea is partly to hydrate the chick but mostly to give it instant energy so it feels like eating and drinking on its own.

I do not see any benefit to putting them in the incubator first. Just have your brooder set up when you get them.

 

[TGinTX]

Thanks for responses. 9 of 14 are looking good. 4 arrived dead and 1 looks like it's about to die. I put it in the incubator still after trying the drop of karo and water. It is still alive but looks tuckered out still. I think I can save that one still but happy to have the 9 looking great.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Really sorry to hear this. There must have been a problem somewhere in shipping. Good luck with the rest.

 

[bigz1983]

I have never mail ordered chicks because I'm nervous about shipping issues.
I have heard of many shipping problems since Covid.
Seems like the shipping industry doesn't care.