how do you raise chickens

[canihasachickens]

Jacin Larkwell
ok, thanks!

 

[cmom]

I hatch out and raise hundreds of chicks each year. Many people brood in different ways. I have a brooder where I use light bulbs as the heat source. After the chicks have hatched I use brooder boxes for the chicks to dry out then they go into the brooder with a feeder and a waterer. I do sprinkle some chick crumbles on the paper towels I put down for them at first. Here is a good BYC article that tells you pretty much everything you need to know for brooding chicks. I know you mentioned getting 2 chicks but you may want to consider at least a couple more. Chickens are flock animals. The more the merrier and should something happen to one of the chicks it will still have a couple of flock mates. Good luck with you flock and have fun...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/brooding-chicks-the-first-6-weeks.74640/
This is the box I put them in to dry out.

Shortly after hatch still drying out..

Brooder. The more recently hatched chicks are on the bottom. I do staggered hatches.

 

[canihasachickens]

do any of you know any good hatcheries near greenville, sc that sell silkies?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I hatch out and raise hundreds of chicks each year. Many people brood in different ways. I have a brooder where I use light bulbs as the heat source. After the chicks have hatched I use brooder boxes for the chicks to dry out then they go into the brooder with a feeder and a waterer. I do sprinkle some chick crumbles on the paper towels I put down for them at first. Here is a good BYC article that tells you pretty much everything you need to know for brooding chicks. I know you mentioned getting 2 chicks but you may want to consider at least a couple more. Chickens are flock animals. The more the merrier and should something happen to one of the chicks it will still have a couple of flock mates. Good luck with you flock and have fun...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/brooding-chicks-the-first-6-weeks.74640/
This is the box I put them in to dry out.
View attachment 2418298
Shortly after hatch still drying out..
View attachment 2418288
Brooder. The more recently hatched chicks are on the bottom. I do staggered hatches.
View attachment 2418295

I love that brooder? Can I ask the dimensions?

 

[cmom]

Many hatcheries do have a minimum order like 25 chicks but there a some hatcheries that will sell fewer chicks. When they ship them they usually put a warmer in for the chicks. This just one but more of the more well know hatcheries are now as well.
https://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/BabyChickMin.aspx
https://www.knowyourchickens.com/buy-chickens-online/

 

[cmom]

Many of the hatcheries will soon stop sending out chicks but will resume next year.

 

[nuthatched]

Poor silkies. Always the chickens noobs guinea pig around with. Silkies are just gateway chickens, you know, next thing you know, you have cochins. And then you have sebrights and then ... lol

OK, how many are you planning on?
For the coop, do not buy those prefab things from the feedstore , they are too small, rickety and aren't predator proof.
You can build a decent coop for under $100, (i can help you design one, if you want) that will be tailored to silkie needs. (They can't fly at all, so the roost bars should only be a few inches off the floor of the coop, so the coop doesn't have to be tall.) you want at least 3 Sq feet per silkie in the coop and at least double that in the run.
Make sure you use hardware cloth, not chicken wire in the run, raccoons, weasels, rats, hawks etc can go right through chicken wire. Also put wire on the floor of the run, to prevent tunneling in.
You need 1 nest box per 3 hens, they'll share.
I'd start reading up around the forum to familiarize yourself with good chicken behavior and diseases. There's threads devoted to silkies with tons of knowledgeable people. I would wait until you're comfortable with the hens before attempting to add a rooster, it's also better to have older girls raise the rooster for a less jerky one.
You can find nice lines of silkies from breeders or if you're not wanting anything too fancy, many hatcheries carry them. I recommend cackle hatchery or Murray McMurray, or finding a hatchery closer to you or craigslist/facebook. Be forewarned , it's very hard to see what gender silkie chicks (and adults sometimes ) are so order more than you want to make up for the boys.
No. I know they're all cute but you can't keep all the boys. you should have one boy per 8-10 girls, but it depends on the the rooster and the girls.
Silkies go broody (want to hatch eggs) a lot, so have an area for them to cool off for a few days to get their hormones down.
If you cross a silkie with a cochin, you get satins, they're adorable.
You want chick feed until they're about 17 weeks old, only use the medicated stuff if you know for certain the chicks have not been vaccinated for coccadosis. I recommend the mareks vaccine , mareks is a disease that affects the neurological, and chickens rarely survive it.
No treats until they're at least 8 weeks old.
You can make a momma heating pad Brooder (search that in the box for more info) to keep babies warm. it's safer than a heat bulb. but you can use a heat bulb (make sure it's not Teflon coated) if you only provide them a place that they can cool off. if they're bunched under the light, they're too cold, as far away from light as possible, too hot. if they're milling around doing chick things, they're just right.
You will have to teach them how to drink by dipping their beaks into water, if you get them from a hatchery.
I use puppy pads to line the chickens Brooder, since they can't eat it.they might eat wood shaving and newspaper is too slick.
Keep us updated on what you do for the best advice.

Good luck.

 

[nuthatched]

Jacin Larkwel i'm only going to have them as pets so 25 chickens just seems like too many, and female is just what I'm hoping for because i don't want to have more chicks

You need at least 3 for happy chickens, they're flock animals.
You won't have more chicks if you don't allow egg incubation. No one sells sexed silkies, so your going to have to buy more than you want to make up for the boys. I'd wait until next spring when you can go to feed store's and buy them, if you don't want very many.

 

[JadeFarms]

First thing you need to know is chicken math. You are going to get it whether you like it or not. You will get silkies then you will just love them, then you will meet Cochins, then Polish, then Orpingtons and the list goes on.
With silkies make sure they have a roofed coop, a lower perch and a nice run unless they’re free ranged.
So with silkies you can notsex them as chicks. It’s sometimes even hard to even sex them at the age cockerels get saddle feathers. They are the hardest chicken to sex. If you get day olds then get twice as many as you want so you can get rid of the roosters.
Make sure you have at least 3 of them to keep them happy.

 

[canihasachickens]

thanks nuthatched that'll give me some time to do more research