Hatching and raising chicks in the house

[jjdent]

I notice at the place I buy the feed, they also sell chick feed, but you're saying I only need that if I'm raising them without a mama?

 

[donrae]

What are you feeding your current flock? If it's a layer feed, they'll need something different. If it's an all-flock, flock raiser, that type of feed, it's fine for the chicks to eat. Layer feed has too much calcium and not enough protein for littles. Momma can eat the same thing the chicks eat, if you wind up buying chick starter she'll eat that also. Just make sure the feed and water are low enough for small legs to reach.

 

[Judy]

Stewarts, I agree, you certainly can hatch and raise them in the house. When I started this flock, I bought day old chicks and brooded them indoors in a setup similar to yours. The house soon got dusty and smelly even with frequent attention, but what bothered me most was the idea of what had to be in that dust, including dried poop. Also, I wouldn't say they are healthier for being raised indoors. For one thing, they develop their natural immunity to cocci more readily when raised by a broody and exposed to her poop, which they eat small amounts of, building their intestinal flora. For another, they will usually grow and feather out a little faster under a broody and outdoors, as well as become acclimated to outdoor weather sooner. And of course, it's a lot less work for the human if a broody raises them.

There is nothing wrong with brooding chicks in the house if that is your choice. Certainly many thousands have been successfully raised this way. But the last time I raised chicks in a brooder, it was outdoors, in February. I won't do it indoors again.

 

[Aleks]

That's great what you are doing JJdent. What you are doing should work out fine. I have been doing the same thing for quite some time. I have a cage out in the garage I usually raise the chicks in before I put them with the rest in the main coops (I have a double roomed coop). This year it has been exceptionally cold and so I built an indoor brooder for the eggs I incubated with my new incubator. I was just fooling around knowing it wasn't the right time of the year. It has dropped to -7 degrees over here in Reno which is why I have the indoor brooder. Once these guys feather out I will move them from the spare room into the bigger brooder in the garage. Here's a pic of the brooder I built with extra stuff from around my property.
And a pic of the little guys inside....


You should be fine.

 

[Aleks]

Oh I forgot...Donrae is right. I am feeding mine medicated chick feed for the first few months. Then I'll start giving them what everyone else gets. I'm not sure how important medicated is, but they definitely need chick starter/feed. Also when they are really small, you wanna make sure the waterer is not so deep that they could drown in it. You'd be surprised how little water they need to get into trouble. I would suggest buying on of those small $5 water towers for them....good luck!

 

[Stewarts]

Chick Starter is what they need to begin with.

 

[new breeder]

That's great what you are doing JJdent. What you are doing should work out fine. I have been doing the same thing for quite some time. I have a cage out in the garage I usually raise the chicks in before I put them with the rest in the main coops (I have a double roomed coop). This year it has been exceptionally cold and so I built an indoor brooder for the eggs I incubated with my new incubator. I was just fooling around knowing it wasn't the right time of the year. It has dropped to -7 degrees over here in Reno which is why I have the indoor brooder. Once these guys feather out I will move them from the spare room into the bigger brooder in the garage. Here's a pic of the brooder I built with extra stuff from around my property.
And a pic of the little guys inside....


You should be fine.

how are they in the pic's???

 

[Sjisty]

My "house chicken," Frack, went broody in the house. I had eggs in the incubator that were only a few days from hatching, so I gave them to her. Every morning she would march her babies through the living room to the front door to be let out. Whenever she wanted to come back in, she would stand at the door and cluck until one of us noticed. In the late afternoon, she would bring her babies back to the kitchen for the night. It was too cute! She kept her chicks very close to the front of the house until they were older. This was years ago. She's never been broody since. I would love her to do it again! Of course, the kitchen floor was always a mess and some chicks would leave "gifts" on the way out, but they cleaned up easily.

 

[Stewarts]

Stewarts, I agree, you certainly can hatch and raise them in the house. When I started this flock, I bought day old chicks and brooded them indoors in a setup similar to yours. The house soon got dusty and smelly even with frequent attention, but what bothered me most was the idea of what had to be in that dust, including dried poop. Also, I wouldn't say they are healthier for being raised indoors. For one thing, they develop their natural immunity to cocci more readily when raised by a broody and exposed to her poop, which they eat small amounts of, building their intestinal flora. For another, they will usually grow and feather out a little faster under a broody and outdoors, as well as become acclimated to outdoor weather sooner. And of course, it's a lot less work for the human if a broody raises them.

There is nothing wrong with brooding chicks in the house if that is your choice. Certainly many thousands have been successfully raised this way. But the last time I raised chicks in a brooder, it was outdoors, in February. I won't do it indoors again.

That is why I fed them yogurt and starter mash, so they'd get the good bacteria in the yogurt. Actually, I had a chick that hatched a day early; he had not absorbed all of his yolk so I had to tuck him back into his egg for another day. He hatched healthy but once in the brooder he showed no interest in eating so I mixed plain, unflavored yogurt and starter into a mash. Stuck his beak into it and once he got a beak full, I couldn't stop him eating! The others got the idea real quick and that became their food for the first month. So you don't have to have a broody raise them. My birds grew and feathered out quickly, I had them out in 8 weeks but it could have been done at 6 weeks. I was being cautious. I had no smell to deal with I was using wood chips; the only dust was as they started growing larger and testing their wings! It was no less or more the work than putting them in the coop and I had the opportunity to get to know them. I raised mine over the summer so I could put them in the coop for the winter.

 

[Aleks]

They are doing very well. I am anxious to get them outside so they can see the "real world"...Right they play really hard, eat and sleep. It's great! I'm gonna miss having them in the house. Sometimes I sit and watch 'em.