Helpful Information for New (and seasoned!) Chick Raisers!

[RossAcres]

I attended a webinar yesterday on raising chicks properly. This was run by Jeff Maddox and Rip Stalvey. They are both experts in their fields. Jeff Maddox is a Nutritionist from Fertrell and Rip Stalvey is a retired APA judge. I took some notes during the webinar, so here you go!

Brooding Baby Chicks Webinar


!Set Up Brooder 24 Hours Before Hatch!


Space

• 4 chicks per sqft for first 4 days
• Don’t want chick moving more than 6 inches for feed or water

Feed/Water

• First Feed: Handful of feed, chopped raw beef liver, boiled egg
  • On a piece of newspaper, put a handful of feed, then one tablespoon of raw diced liver and half a boiled egg on top of the feed. No need to mix. This is enough for 25 chicks.
  • Every day for five days, then every other day, then three times a week
• Plain greek yogurt to deter Coccidia oocysts
  • Day 3, 14, 21, 28
  • Make sure to keep an eye on droppings to ensure no diarrhea
• Brightly colored marbles in water to attract chicks to the water source.
  • Also keeps small chicks from drowning
  • Dollar Tree has marbles
  • GRIT - Grit has shown to decrease pasty butt. Grit is used to break down feed.
    • Even if you use crumbles, grit is recommended.
• Birds should be consuming water and feed at a 2:1 ratio. 1 pound of feed and 2 pounds of water.

Bedding

• Peat moss: Looks like dirt(what’s feed, what’s not), naturally sterile, low pH
• Avoid crushed leaves. Some fungi are possible with moisture. Secondary fermentation is a risk with tree leaves that have sugary sap.
• Keeping the brooder dry and fresh will keep respiratory problems at bay.
• Ammonia will cause multiple problems.
  • Burnt feet, eye cloudiness

Temperature/Heat Sources

• Chicks: 95 degrees, drop 1 degree per day or 7 per week after 14 days
  • By 4 weeks, chicks should be feathered enough to regulate heat as long as there are not any drafts.
• Try to use dim light, too much light can cause aggression.
• Heat plates, Heat emitter (no light), Heat lamp (red)

Behavior

• Listen for loud, distressed chirping. This could be because they are out of water, feed, or they are too cold.
• Heat: If they are huddled directly under a heat lamp, they are too cold. If they are as far from the heat as possible, they are too hot.
  • You want the birds about 8 inches from the center of the heat source. The birds will tell you how they feel by their location.

If you have anything to add to this, feel free! I plan on creating an article that goes in depth a little more. If you have any disagreements, please be sure to be kind and give examples to back up your claim. This is not how everyone raises chicks, and that's okay!

 

[Debbie292d]

This is not how everyone raises chicks, and that's okay!

Exactly!

I'm hatching 2.5 dozen silkies every 5 days and won't change how I do it, but not turning my nose up to how others do it either.

Ours is pretty basic:

Kalmbach's Flock Maker with 1/4 dose Rooster Booster granules is the only thing they get for a month. Always have choice of dry and wet crumbles. If they aren't outside at a month old due to weather, then a scoop of lawn is brought in for coccidiosis exposure/immunity and some grit. After a month, scrambled eggs are their first and only treat, besides their wet crumbles they like, until they are a few months old.

Water is bottled due to us having hard water for the first three days, then they get it from the tap. I give them probiotic/electrolyte water on day two. They have these which are too shallow to drown in for waterers, and they can't tip them over.

Horse Bedding Pellets in the brooder with paper towels on one side for their first three days. Minimal chance of cocciodosis as the pellets dry out the poop and absorb odors. No smelly brooder!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hmm. Our way is basic too. After all, mama hen does not provide chopped liver ...

We use puppy pee pads, changed daily. Warm sugar water the first day, electrolyte water the first week, plain well water after that. Chick crumbles for feed. Chick grit on Day Three, start a few mealworms on Day Six. Out to the outside brooder at three weeks, integrate with big birds at eight weeks (when they're big enough to be safe from the cats). That's it!

 

[RossAcres]

Exactly!

I'm hatching 2.5 dozen silkies every 5 days and won't change how I do it, but not turning my nose up to how others do it either.

Ours is pretty basic:

Kalmbach's Flock Maker with 1/4 dose Rooster Booster granules is the only thing they get for a month. Always have choice of dry and wet crumbles. If they aren't outside at a month old due to weather, then a scoop of lawn is brought in for coccidiosis exposure/immunity and some grit. After a month, scrambled eggs are their first and only treat, besides their wet crumbles they like, until they are a few months old.

Water is bottled due to us having hard water for the first three days, then they get it from the tap. I give them probiotic/electrolyte water on day two. They have these which are too shallow to drown in for waterers, and they can't tip them over.

Horse Bedding Pellets in the brooder with paper towels on one side for their first three days. Minimal chance of cocciodosis as the pellets dry out the poop and absorb odors. No smelly brooder!

I like your methods! Always good to see how others do things.

 

[RossAcres]

Hmm. Our way is basic too. After all, mama hen does not provide chopped liver ...

We use puppy pee pads, changed daily. Warm sugar water the first day, electrolyte water the first week, plain well water after that. Chick crumbles for feed. Chick grit on Day Three, start a few mealworms on Day Six. Out to the outside brooder at three weeks, integrate with big birds at eight weeks (when they're big enough to be safe from the cats). That's it!

You are right! Mom doesn't provide liver. But I will say, mom may provide a small worm, which is similar to the liver. They eat bugs and such when with mom. I just try to give them certain food items to replicate the wild. I could just give them cut up worms, but I'd rather just use liver.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The neat thing is they usually seem to survive and thrive through a multitude of methods!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks for posting that, a very interesting read. I would have loved being there to ask questions. Some of that makes no sense to me, I'd love to give them a chance to explain.

For example

4 chicks per sqft for first 4 days

• Don’t want chick moving more than 6 inches for feed or water

How would you even design a brooder to meet this, let alone keep the chicks spread out instead of bunching up? If they are packed that tightly, managing the poop could be challenging. It could have been a very fun meeting.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I agree, I think chicks need more exercise than that, and they also (IMO) need to be able to move from warmer to cooler areas.