How much work are chicks?

[KnightsMist]

How much work are chicks? Do you need to be checking them frequently or are they ok with 2-3 checks per day? I.e., if I work full time out of the home and check on them in the am and when I get home from work and another night check, is that enough? Assume appropriate set up and heat (planning on using heat plate instead of light and brooding in my coop- once it's finished!).

 

[floppysquirrel04]

Yes, 2-3 times should be fine. They need to have food always when they’re chicks, and then be fed 1-2 times a day when they’re older, about a cup a bird for normal size. They need 3-4sqr feet per bird in the coop and a run. They always need water, they’re not drought resistant lol! I definitely recommend the heat plate and not the lamp.

 

[azygous]

Sure. Three checks per day is doable. But more is better.

Baby chicks are very unpredictable. In the first few days, they may be suffering from shipping stress from their trip from the hatchery through the mail to the feed store or to your home. They may take three days to become sick and if you aren't around to notice and treat, they can die.

By the second week, the chicks are becoming more active and curious. This translates into walking into the room where you have the brooder and discovering a missing chick or a chick that has become stuck in something. If you aren't around soon after this happens, you may end up with a dead chick.

By the third week, you may enter the brooder room to find all the chicks have flown out and are lost in the house somewhere. How much trouble they can get into is correlated with how long they have been at large. You could find a chick drowned in a toilet.

Then there is the hands on issue you would be missing out on. Chicks that are frequently handled are usually more tame and friendly as adult chickens. Chicks that don't see much of humans can grow up to be skittish and untrusting.

You can brood chicks with minimal checking, but you should expect an increase in the possibility of accidents and death from treatable illness.

 

[KnightsMist]

Thanks for the tips! For clarification, I plan to build a contained brooder in the coop (which will be in my barn with my horse and donkey who I already take care of and spend a good amount of time with). So I'm not so much worried about them getting someplace they shouldn't be.

I could likely time getting chicks with some vacation time from work so could be with them more those first several days to a week, and if need be I could always pop home from work at lunch for a week or 2.

I definitely do plan to spend time socializing them and they will have access to food and water 24/7.

Thanks for tips, keep them coming

 

[UrbanHenKW123]

As long as you have a good secure brooder and a good setup for their food and water as well as a good heat source you’re good! I work full time and have raised day olds. Good check in the morning, then right when you get home and at least one more before bed. Make sure you take time to scoop and clean their brooder and check them for things like pasty butt.

 

[rosemarythyme]

3x a day should be fine. I don't think chicks are that much work at all if you're smart with your set up. Mainly you'll be checking food and water, doing some clean up, checking for pasty butt (while they're still little) as well as anything "off" about behavior, and then spending some time bonding and socializing with them (assuming they're pets or semi-pets).