Hi there, i'd be happy to help! I'm not an expert but i'll try my best...
My pet chicken is almost 5 months old. I found it by the chicken coop when it was just a day old. It's mother was nowhere to be seen so i decided to adopt it! I had no idea what I was doing as I hadn't done much research about caring for chicks, but what I did seemed to work! We found whatever we could, which was an old plastic washing basket, a piano lamp to keep it warm, and a small box for it to sleep in. I also put some newspaper down and made sure I replaced it each day to keep it clean.
I found that milk bottle lids work well for food and water! Just make sure your chick doesn't tip it over as they require a fresh supply of food and water to help them grow. You will find that lots of books and websites say that you need to feed your chick starter feed, but i found that normal pellets were sufficient. I made sure they were ground into a powder.
I also handled my chick alot, and still do, which means that it is extremely tame. Whenever it sees me it comes running! It is good to spend time with it because it means that you can check for any unusual behaviour.
Another important thing I learned while raising my chicken was they can't stand the cold! I had to learn this the hard way. One night it was being so noisy that I put it in the car so I could get some sleep. I went to check on it in the morning and it looked as if it was dead, so I grabbed a shovel and was about to bury it. But just as I was digging the hole, it opened it's beak! I thought i'd better wait incase it was still alive. I held it in my hand for about 15 minutes, and it started to move! I put it back under the heat lamp and in a few hours it was back to it's normal self. So whatever you do, make sure it stays warm!
Hope that helps. If you have any other questions i'd be happy to help. All the best with raising your new chicks!
I found that milk bottle lids work well for food and water! Just make sure your chick doesn't tip it over as they require a fresh supply of food and water to help them grow. You will find that lots of books and websites say that you need to feed your chick starter feed, but i found that normal pellets were sufficient. I made sure they were ground into a powder.
I also handled my chick alot, and still do, which means that it is extremely tame. Whenever it sees me it comes running! It is good to spend time with it because it means that you can check for any unusual behaviour.
Another important thing I learned while raising my chicken was they can't stand the cold! I had to learn this the hard way. One night it was being so noisy that I put it in the car so I could get some sleep. I went to check on it in the morning and it looked as if it was dead, so I grabbed a shovel and was about to bury it. But just as I was digging the hole, it opened it's beak! I thought i'd better wait incase it was still alive. I held it in my hand for about 15 minutes, and it started to move! I put it back under the heat lamp and in a few hours it was back to it's normal self. So whatever you do, make sure it stays warm!
Hope that helps. If you have any other questions i'd be happy to help. All the best with raising your new chicks!