How to raise my chicks from day one to adult hood

[Rolison]

I just got 4 pullets 3 days ago and i cant find a good site with the information i need such as the following.

• When can they go in the coop?
• When do i switch them to grower feed?
• When do they not need the heat lamp anymore?
• When can they be aloud into the run?
• When do i start them on Grit and Oyster shell?

And anything else i need to know about raising them into adult hood.I'm realy looking for a timeline of events all the way to there first egg. Thank you, any information is appreciated!

 

[cooped up]

Well, welcome to BYC. Just keep searching the site and you'll get most of your qusetions answered.

1. keep them in the brooder til their feathered{ depending where you live}
2 Keep them on chick starter til their first egg, then layer feed.
3 Keep reducing the heat 5 deg every week { so start at 90 deg and work your way down.
don/t heat the whole brooder- have a cooler area for the bird.
4 If their feathered and in the coop, they can be in the run also.
5 Use chick grit if your giving them treats or if they are venturing outside, oyster for after they start laying.

Like I said you will find most of your answers here, AND there are good how to books out there.

Enjoy your chicks.

 

[MomsGoneMild]

What is "feathered"? Mine still have fluffy butt, bu their wings are real feathers. Does that mean they are past the high maintenance baby stage? Just got them today. They are in the garage, (in florida) but they don't have a heat source. Should be fine, yes? Also, I just put the to "sleep" at 6:30 pm by putting them in a mini coop within their brooder. Will they make it til morning without wating or drinking? I am trying to train them to go into their coop at sundown. Too young?

xoxo Annmarie

 

[Fierlin1182]

I hope I can be of some help.

•When can they go in the coop?
With a heat lamp, any time. WIthout, it's recommended that you do 5-6 weeks for 50*F or below, and 4-5 weeks old for higher temps.

•When do i switch them to grower feed?
I'm not sure what you mean by grower feed, we only fed our chickens chick starter, then layer mash when they were about three-four months old.

•When do they not need the heat lamp anymore?
About four weeks old if they're still going to be indoors, and it's warm enough, you can turn off the light.

•When can they be aloud into the run?
For small amounts of times as young as you like, for maybe 15-30 mins at a time for a bit of a forage, if you keep an eye on them. But you can allow them out into the run as soon as you put them out into the coop - leave the door open and they will go out if they want.

•When do i start them on Grit and Oyster shell?
Whenever you feed them anything other than their chick starter. However if you let them outside to forage during the day they will collect their own grit from the ground.

 

[Fierlin1182]

What is "feathered"?  Mine still have fluffy butt, bu their wings are real feathers.  Does that mean they are past the high maintenance baby stage?    Just got them today.  They are in the garage, (in florida) but they don't have a heat source.  Should be fine, yes?  Also, I just put the to "sleep" at 6:30 pm by putting them in a mini coop within their brooder.  Will they make it til morning without wating or drinking?  I am trying to train them to go into their coop at sundown.  Too young? 

xoxo Annmarie

Do you think you could post a picture?
Chickens keep their butt fluff all the way through life I reckon. They should be ready to go without heat if their wings and body have enough feathers.

And it takes a while for chicks to learn to go into the coop by themselves, you have to put them in manually for a few nights. Our chickens didn't learn this until they were a couple of months old.

I usually leave the food and water in with them all night when they are still chicks, so they can have whatever they need.

 

[cary 1973]

I would NEVER leave them without water or food

 

[AngelzFyre]

They should have food and water available 24/7.
Usually they are fully feathered out at 6 weeks of age, though some larger breeds or cockerels feather out a bit later.
Like the previous poster said, they should be at 95 degrees from day one til first week, then decrease by 5 degrees per week of age.
They should be on a starter/grower feed until at least 18 weeks and then put on either layer feed or a "flock raiser" feed if you've got several different breeds/requirements and oyster shell available 24/7 as well as the appropriate sized granite grit. Oyster shell should never be fed before laying age at 18 weeks because the extra calcium is not good for them.
Chick grit til they are 6 weeks, then increase grit size accordingly, I just keep grit in with mine from first week on, to be safe.

Agree that you'll have to put them in for awhile at dusk until they learn to go in by themselves. You can put a few treats like small scratch or meal worms in at that time to help train them.

Also check out BYC store for Raising Chickens for Dummies book. NOT saying you are a dummy!!!!! That's just the title...it's like those computer help books

 

[MomsGoneMild]

Well they made it. Alive and chirping. Thanks for all the advice everyone! xoxo Annmarie

 

[acemario]

There is a link on the homepage about raising chicks. Check it out. I think it might answer a lot of your questions. The picture is of a little yellow chick. Good luck!