HELP!!! 101 on chicks ANSWER PLEASE!!

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

Thanks guys! Great advice! And that is a good link.. what a HUGE list though!

 

[Dora'smom]

Actually, a few items should be added to the list. You might want to have an over the counter triple antibiotic ointment without painkiller in it, and if you have betadine (iodine solution) to use as an antiseptic, a good way to use it is to squirt enough into a freshly opened bottle of water to make it look like tea, to rinse out a wound. You may also want to get some vet wrap (available at feed stores) in case you need to wrap a wound. Vet Rx is handy to help treat respiratory symptoms, and Blue-kote in the dabber bottle is good for antiseptic and wound camouflage purposes. Just remember that the Blue-Kote is actually a very intense blue-purple, and will dye any part of you it touches, as well.
When you are ready to feed your fluffies treats, anything other than a bit of egg yolk or plain yogurt may require that you provide chick grit so their tummy can grind everything up. You should also know that if they develop a lump on their chests, it is probably a full crop and will go down again by morning. If you use a chick waterer, you may need to put marbles or little rocks in it to prevent your babies from slipping and drowning---even in a little bit of water. Medicated feed will help prevent them from becoming ill with coccidicosis, but doesn't prevent any other illness. It makes for a great start for your birds, though.
If it is possible for a garter snake to get into their brooder, you need to take action. It probably is a rare occurrence, but someone on this board had a young bird get strangled by a small snake that wrapped around its little neck. Make sure your arrangements for your brooder and then your coop and run are as predator-proof as you can make them.
I like to keep a bottle of Poly-vi-sol infant vitamins without iron (available at Wal-Mart or Walgreen's or probably most pharmacies). It's very important that there be no iron in the vitamins you get. I have used it for several chicks and adult birds that I have, that have been sick. Sometimes a vitamin deficiency will masquerade as another illness. Come here and ask for help if you need assistance deciding what to do for a sick bird. There is a sticky you can find with the search tab, that lists the info anyone helping you will need to give you helpful advice.
I should also add that in the list of first aid info, apple cider vinegar is listed. Many of us use the ACV as it is referred to, with the "mother" in it. This is special and has more beneficial properties to it. You can find it in a health food section at a larger store, or at a health food store. I routinely put it in my adult birds' water, but I use less of it than the list mentions. I use one tablespoon to one gallon water. It is a healthful supplement, and the birds really seem to like it.
When your birds get to egg-laying age, golf balls in the nest boxes really do help them to know where to lay their eggs.
Hope this helps a little.

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

Wow i expected a little first aid kit not a list of 20+ stuff!! LOL thats ok... its for their health!!

 

[Jstall]

There is a lot of good advice posted above. I see pictures of make do brooders but I see no thermometers. It is so important to keep chicks at the right temperature. Chicks 101 should start with (chicks need to be have 100 degrees for the first 4 to 7 days, at least the first 4 days. Heat lamps will work placed at the right height and checked with a thermometer. You should observe chicks laying around the heat source in a circle with about a one-foot empty circle directly under the heat source. If they are pile up directly under the heat source, they are cold. If the circle is larger than a foot they are to hot.

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

Is there a small (affordable) first aid kit for common injuries?

 

[write2caroline]

Here is my total knowledge on Chickens:

They are like potato chips - you cannot seem to control how many you take. You try to control the number and it just sneaks up on you. I intended on having 4 and I have 40.
I am a chicken addict!

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This is how they come in a box - This is the face you make when you open the box too!

Dip their beaks in water fish aquarium rocks are helpful first couple of days in the waterer but - Very hard to clean with rocks big pain take them out the second day.

[/img] A zillion different kinds of brooders. I liked mine but needed a bigger one in the second week because they grow really really fast! Add some wire up on top to prevent cats from snatching snacks, and in that second week they start "Flying" so they need to be kept inside.

I taped that wood to the mirror to raise and lower the heat lamp for optimum heat control I also found that the smaller heat lamp bulb was better for the lower temps. Thirdly, Sand by far easiest material for brooding chicks - but not if it gets wet. does scoop and won't hurt them if they eat any of it.

You will change water 3-4 times a day - they are messy little buggers.

Yogurt with crumbles is a good treat for chicks, Apple cidar vinagar is good in the water (ACV people like to abbreviate here)

Dogs and tiny baby chicks are not good playmates

resist giving treats for the first week
speak softly to the chicks
don't try to pick them up by grabbing them from the back but lift them instead - Hawks and predators grab from the back - kind of scary for them

They do like to perch around end of week one.

They like fuzzy things like a teddy bear or old towell - Old towell is easier to clean

Flash photography scares them

You cannot take too many pictures (just try not to use the flash)

counting chicks is very hard because they move so darn fast.

It will seem like years before they lay the first egg

You will post 10-12 times about asking about the first egg

You will act silly when they lay the first egg

Just enjoy them and stay away from the emergency pages unless you actually have an emergency - TOOO MUCH INFORMATION and SCARY untill you need it and then it is wonderful place to get some good info.

Okay that is pretty much all I can tell you
CAroline

 

[Jmurcks]

I didn't read through everything so sorry if this has been mentioned already...
Be sure to pet/love your chicks at least daily.

My first set of chicks I only really cleaned their brooder and checked their food/water but never took time to really socialize them...
They are somewhat wild now and I have to chase them around to catch them.

I did things different this time and made sure every day and sometimes 2-3 times a day I held and talked to each individual chick. Even from the day they were hatched.
Now when I reach in the brooder they run up to me instead of away from... much better!

Just something I thought I'd throw in... best of luck!

 

[henney penny]

Use paper towel the first few days not newspaper as it is slippery.When you see them laying down with wings spread out and rolling around don`t worry they are not having a seziure (which I thought they were) they are just dust bathing.If everything is not covered on this thread then ask when something comes up that you need an answer to,there is always someone to give you good advice.

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

thanks write2caroline!!! SUCH great info!!!! Learned a lot... and when they are little they dustbathe? didnt know that... Thanks guys!! Ill post pic daily of 'em when i get them!

 

[adbayer]

i reccomend going to tractor supply and buying the book- storeys guide for raising chickens, i have it, and its a lifesaver!!! my chick bible!