How hard is it to raise baby chicks?

[chiknhurder]

Some are sexed, which is like 95% accurate.

That's what the guy told me that sold me 3 cockerels and 2 pullets that were all supposed to be pullets. His accuracy was 95% too.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

It takes me 10 minutes per day to feed & water 4 pens which usually consists of 30-60 chicks & chickens of all ages and 20-60 quail. The most time consuming thing is waiting for the water hose to fill up the waterers.
It's easy to grow your own but by the time they get eaten by preds, die of chicken death, die of accidental deaths, cull out the roosters, probably only about 20% or less of what I hatch ever actually ends up laying any eggs.

 

[donrae]

Raising chicks is like raising any other animal, or kids for that matter. Some folks completely dedicate their entire beings to it, some, well, not so much. Both usually give about the same end result.

I brood my chicks in my barn. I use heat lamps double secured, and metal troughs, so I'm not worried about fire damage. I've always been working full time when I had chicks, so they get checked on twice a day usually. Feed, water, quick health check, good until next time. I don't keep my birds as pets, so I don't handle or socialize them at all. They take very little of my time each day. I do a deep litter method in the brooder, I just add more shavings when it starts to get icky. Don't buy small bales of shavings from a pet store, buy large bales from a farm store. I get 11 cubic feet, compressed, for under $10. That's a lot of shavings! more than enough to brood that many chicks to adulthood.

I'm pretty minimalistic. I have what you said--heat lamp, feeder, waterer. That gets my birds to the age to leave the brooder, then I ditch the heat lamp. After that, you just need a place to keep them. Use the KISS method and you'll do just fine!

As far as medicated feed, do some research. Two great posters here that have written good info are Fred's Hens and Ridgerunner. Read their posts on cocci and medicated feed, they'll give you some good info. I've never noticed an overall difference in using it or not.

I have very low mortality rates with my brooded chicks, so figure I'm doing something right!

 

[AStitchofKate]

You were "just thinking" about chicks before, this place will have you ordering or running out and buying chicks by the end of the week!

I agree with so much that is said here and honestly, you have 4 kiddo's its gonna make your caring for chickens all the more easier if your planning on this being a learning experience for them as well! Really they can be socialized and feel like family pets, or they can be cared for only for necessities, like feed/water, bedding, & health needs and gather your eggs and go! It's all about what effort you want to put there. And I wanted to add, I just bought a bag of feed it was 50lb bag and it was $20 at TSC. ( I think Araucana16 meant that in her price break down up top, but wanted to be sure you got that cause thats a lot of feed.) I agree with checking out Craigslist as well! I know locally I can buy chickens young and old, and I have seen a variety of breeds, may be something to look into if your wanting to just start out. Also can google for hatchery's that are local to you! Welcome again girly!! Good luck!!!!

 

[Chickelov3r53]

I loved raising my chicks. You definately build a bond with them when you raise them yourself. I think you shouldn't take the easy way out and buy them older. I didn't think it was that much of a hassle raising them myself.

 

[chiknhurder]

Keep in mind too that if you're raising chickens for healthier eggs or their meat then what they eat, you eat. If you feed them medicated food, you're being medicated. If you feed them non-organic feed, you're feeding yourself GMO's and possibly antibiotics. GMO corn and soy contain pesticides and herbicides. Over 90% of all soy produced in the U.S. is GMO and over 80% of all corn is GMO. Chickens can't process soy without it being roasted. That's a good indicator that they shouldn't be eating it. Mine picked it out before I switched feeds. There are other options for protein in chicken feed, like peas, that are organic.

100 pounds of organic mix with cracked grains and organic supplements costs me $43 and some change. That's a little over $20 for a 50# bag.

 

[sanchabird]

I love raising chickens! Depending on how old your kids are, they could help take care and learn how to care for chickens. Chickens in my opinion are very easy to care for. I also don't think they're very time consuming.

I have always used medicated feed for my chicks because I don't want to take the risk of getting cocci. Then I switch to an omega 3 laying feed when they're about 16-20 weeks old.

I have 1 barred rock(brown), 1 Rhode Island Red(brown), and 2 araucanas(green and pink). They all lay about 5 eggs a week. I've had barred rocks, Rhode Island reds, golden and silver laced Wyandotte, speckled Sussex, araucanas, light brown leghorns, white leghorns, and light brahmas. The friendliest have been the araucanas and the light brahmas; they're good egg layers too. I personally wouldn't get leghorns, barred rocks, or Rhode Island reds again; they haven't been the nicest.

For raising babies, you will spend money on the following:
Chicks- about $4 a piece
Plastic storage bin- $7
Heat lamp- $12
Bulb- $3
Shavings- $5 a bag
Chick starter feed- $15 a bag
Chick feeder and waterer- $20
Adult feeder and waterer- $35
Layer feed- $15 a bag
Coop- it depends on the size, quality etc.
Hay(winter)- $5 a bale
NOTE: these prices are from where I live(GA)

PM me if you need anything. Good Luck!

 

[donrae]

Keep in mind too that if you're raising chickens for healthier eggs or their meat then what they eat, you eat. If you feed them medicated food, you're being medicated. I suppose this could be true if you actually used medicated feed for your layers, but no one who can read and follow directions does that. Medicated feed is not meant for layers, it's for chicks. It's not an antibiotic, it's simply to hold back the level of cocci in the chick's system until the chick can develop it's own resistance. I'm fully confident I can feed my chicks medicated starter if I chose, and by the time I either eat my eggs or slaughter my cockerels there's no medication present in their system. I guess if I die of thiamine deficiency, I'll know I'm wrong

If you feed them non-organic feed, you're feeding yourself GMO's and possibly antibiotics. where do antibiotics come into play in conventional feed?


GMO corn and soy contain pesticides and herbicides. Over 90% of all soy produced in the U.S. is GMO and over 80% of all corn is GMO. Chickens can't process soy without it being roasted. That's a good indicator that they shouldn't be eating it. Mine picked it out before I switched feeds. There are other options for protein in chicken feed, like peas, that are organic.

100 pounds of organic mix with cracked grains and organic supplements costs me $43 and some change. That's a little over $20 for a 50# bag.

 

[sanchabird]

Keep in mind too that if you're raising chickens for healthier eggs or their meat then what they eat, you eat. If you feed them medicated food, you're being medicated. If you feed them non-organic feed, you're feeding yourself GMO's and possibly antibiotics. GMO corn and soy contain pesticides and herbicides. Over 90% of all soy produced in the U.S. is GMO and over 80% of all corn is GMO. Chickens can't process soy without it being roasted. That's a good indicator that they shouldn't be eating it. Mine picked it out before I switched feeds. There are other options for protein in chicken feed, like peas, that are organic.

100 pounds of organic mix with cracked grains and organic supplements costs me $43 and some change. That's a little over $20 for a 50# bag.

Where do you buy your organic feed? What brand is it? I have always fed my chickens Layena Omega 3 but its not organic. I know that the things I grow for them in the garden and the food we buy is organic, but again the feed is not.

 

[chiknhurder]

Where do you buy your organic feed? What brand is it? I have always fed my chickens Layena Omega 3 but its not organic. I know that the things I grow for them in the garden and the food we buy is organic, but again the feed is not.

I live just south of Kansas City, Missouri, Sanchabird. My feed comes from Thayer, Kansas, which is about 3.5 hours to the south of me. They deliver feed to Springhill, Kansas once a month. That's only about 30 minutes from me so the second Wednesday of each month, I meet them there to pick up my feed. It's possible that they would ship it but I don't know. Their link is below. There's a good chance that there is a supplier of organic feed in your area.

I feed feeds that contain grain only. I guess the pellets and crumbles are made from grain too but I don't trust the mega-corporation feed companies to create something in a laboratory for my birds when it grows naturally plus pellets end up turning to dust by the time they've been in the feeder awhile or as you get close to the bottom of the feed barrel. Grains are part of their natural diet.


Donrae mentioned that she believes that the medication is gone by the time she eats the meat or eggs. I hope she's right because it's our government that is telling us this and to trust them. What I know is that antibiotics are everywhere around us. It's in our soil and it's in our drinking water. That's why there are so many antibiotic resistant diseases and viruses popping up today. It's from the use of medicated feeds to feed livestock and is pooped out and going into the ground water. This can easily be researched if anyone doubts it. If it's so easily gotten rid of by the chickens then why is it being found in soil samples, water samples and our blood?

Billion dollar companies are good about padding the pockets of politicians in exchange for immunity. Monsanto is a prime example. The GMO feeds have herbicides and pesticides genetically engineered into the seeds so that weeds that grow around them will be killed and pests that feed on them will die. What do you think happens to us as these build up in our bodies and Monsanto is wanting to do this with ALL seeds. Oh, the kicker is this. They also are engineering the seeds to not reproduce so the farmers have to come to them to buy seed. It'll do no good to save it for next years crop because it won't germinate. One more thing, these freak plants can and do cross pollinate with heirloom plants and ruining the seeds for future use.

The bottom line is that it's up to us to stay after our congressmen to let them know how we feel and to pressure the government into making changes that will protect the future of our farms and our health.

THAYER FEED LLC, THAYER, KANSAS
http://www.thayerfeedllc.com