HELP please! What do you do after delivery of chickens?

[loanwizard]

I noticed 1 poster talking about a thermometer. I have to say that I am old school and I am sure the pioneers were less technologically advanced than us, and given that your plans are to get these in June, I wouldn't worry too much. After they are 3 weeks old, I know they can go into a small coop of their own without any assistance.

 

[JodyJo]

Quote:
I did mention thermometer, before I realized that they would be ordered in June...but if you are new to this, using one in the brooder I feel is important...my 3rd batch of chicks I did not even use added heat, I went off the way they acted...but as a complete newbie, I feel a $2.00 thermometer is a cheap precaution.

 

[SteveBaz]

Welcome to the BYC

Well a place to keep them. Appliance stores have great boxes if tou ask nice.
Heat lamp/s 250 watt heat bulb + and extra just in case
Thermometer
Compressed wood chip
a little perch
Water dish
Food dish
A little teddy bear or stuffed animal to hide in and snuggle
A little bucket of sand with DE (diatomaceous earth) control worms lice and ?

You need to begin on a more permanent home bc 6 weeks go by quick!! Great luck to you!

 

[loanwizard]

Quote:
I did mention thermometer, before I realized that they would be ordered in June...but if you are new to this, using one in the brooder I feel is important...my 3rd batch of chicks I did not even use added heat, I went off the way they acted...but as a complete newbie, I feel a $2.00 thermometer is a cheap precaution.

It was super advice, no offense intended, I was just giving her a differing point of view. You are actually technically more right than I am. I personally wouldn't hatch eggs in late fall if I felt the need to keep them inside for 6-8 weeks.

Just wait til I lose a batch and I may change my tune lol!

 

[JodyJo]

Quote:
I did mention thermometer, before I realized that they would be ordered in June...but if you are new to this, using one in the brooder I feel is important...my 3rd batch of chicks I did not even use added heat, I went off the way they acted...but as a complete newbie, I feel a $2.00 thermometer is a cheap precaution.

It was super advice, no offense intended, I was just giving her a differing point of view. You are actually technically more right than I am. I personally wouldn't hatch eggs in late fall if I felt the need to keep them inside for 6-8 weeks.

Just wait til I lose a batch and I may change my tune lol!

I have never had any inside till this past spring, I won't do it again...5 weeks inside, drove me crazy! I didn't mean anything either...I was lost my first time, glad I had found this site!
Everyone is so helpful....

 

[EMaker]

Quote:
I would skip sand and DE for chicks. Sand can build up in their stomachs and cause health problems. They should not have lice as day old chicks, nor will they get lice in a clean brooder. DE doesn't deworm and again, worming isn't an issue for such young chicks. Beside that, if you get DE, make sure it is food grade or it can be toxic. You need PINE (not cedar which is toxic) shavings, medicated chick starter, a quail-size water tray with a water bottle (because chicks can drown in the wider waterers), a shallow open food dish, thermometer, a 250 watt heat lamp and heat lamp set up with a clip, a big tupperware bin, an old window screen as a cover for the tupperware bin (not just to keep chicks safely inside when they start to jump but to also prevent fires and burns if the heat lamp accidentally falls on the brooder), a nearby chair on which to clip the heat lamp about 18 inches about ground level in the brooder, and I like to have food grade molasses on hand in case you need to make chick laxative (shipped chicks often get pasty butt/constipation from travel stress, and it can kill them fast if untreated for even half a day). ALSO, being in New England as I am, choose winter hardy breeds, such as Buff Orpingtons, Araucanas (hatchery Easter Eggers), any Sussex variety, any Rock variety, Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Black Giants, etc. The suggestion of Polish may not be best for you, since Polish aren't cold hardy and will need indoor winter accommodations. And definitely do wait until spring to have your chicks arrive, as it's already too late to have day olds raised and ready to go outdoors here...they won't be old enough to fare well in our harsh winter temperatures...and it is a pain in the neck (and stinky) to keep chickens indoors all winter.

 

[ScottyHOMEy]

Good for you on getting out in front to make sure you're prepared.

Here's a link from McMurray Hatchery's page regarding the care of newly arrived chicks.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chickcare.html

It's pretty useful. You'll see that not a lot changes week-to-week.

The one exception to that observation is the amount of heat you need to provide your chicks. A couple of replies her debated over whether a thermometer is needed. Some folks have a knack for it and can get by without one, but for a beginner I'd suggest you get a thermometer. If only to get started.

Gather all the advice you can, and the equipment you'll need, and have your brooder ready ahead of time. A day or two before your chicks are expected to arrive, turn on your heat lamp, and check your thermometer. Spend the time before your birds arrive adjusting your temperature (by raising or lowering the lamp) until you have a fairly steady 90-95 degrees on the surface under it. Use that as your starting point. From there, the behavior of the chicks will be as important as what the thermometer reads. You'll find them to be a bunch of sleepy-heads for most of the first week, and how they're sleeping will tell you what you need to know about the temperature. If they're staying all bunched up together, you need to lower the lamp a few inches to provide more heat. If they are all sleeping out at the edges of the brightest spot of the lamp, it may be too hot and you need to raise it a bit. Ideally, they'll spread out kind of randomly, some right under the lamp, some off to the edges. A few that choose to snuggle together aren't a problem. Relying on their behavior, you should raise the lamp a little every 4-7 days, according of their behavior. Keep your thermometer there and check it so you'll have a reference, but you'll get the hang of it.

I brood mine in the garage in big appliance cartons from our local Sears store. I hang my lamp from a beam in the garage. A string from the lamp, up and over the beam, then back down, in sort of a pulley-like arrangement, so that height adjustments are simply a matter of shortening or lengthening the cord and tying it off with the lamp at a good height. Depending on the season when they arrive, you'll find some variance between night and day temps in the brooder, but if your brooder is of a good size and free of drafts, the fluctuation willl be minimal. I expect you'll be tending them regularly, night and day. The first week will be the one requiring the most attention but apart from the first day or two, if you tested your temps to begin with, you shouldn' have to adjust on a daily basis.

One of the better points someone touched on is to have your coop all but ready to go when they arrive. The WILL grow quickly and you need to be ready.

Starting out, preparation is eveything, and you've got the jump on it, for sure! We're not at Halloween yet, and you won't have our chicks until late next spring, so . . .

You'll be welcome here with any questions as you go along, but I'll suggest a book that I think will answer a lot of your questions, and help make the winter's wait seem a little shorter. It's by Gail Damerow, "Storey's Guide to Rasing Chickens." It's available from McMurray's and other hatcheries and can sometimes be found in bookstores or your local feed and seed store. Browse through it first, then go through and read up closely on the things you'll need to know and do first. Every time through it, you'll pick up on little things you might have missed before, and you'll see the parts of what, right now, seem like something of a puzzle to you, start to fit together.

And it will all come together for you, and make a lot more sense once you have your birds to tend to.

I'll be looking forward to reports next summer.

 

[smkchick]

I'm new at this too. I found a great book called "Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide" by Rick and Gail Luttmann. It had lots of great advice, was funny and very easy to read. I also have "Raising Chickens for Dummies".

Congratulations! You'll be hooked...