I just ordered my first chicks, any advice?

[missusduray]

I just ordered my first chicks yesterday( 14 total) and my husband ordered 30 phesants. I have never raised chicks before. Can anyone give me some advice? General advice would be appreciated, also I have a few questions.
Do I need to have them vaccinated? Do I need to feed them medicated starter? I plan to have a small flock of less than 20 do I really need to worry about thoes things? Is there anything in particular that I SHOULD worry about? I have small kids so I was just wondering. Thanks
Kristyne

 

[michellerene]

I would do the medicated starter just to be safe, but you don't really need to vaccinate them. Make sure the kiddos was their hands after handling a chick & monitor them closely. The new babies will be easy for a young child to hurt by accident.

Other than that, just enjoy them! They will grow so fast you'll be amazed!

 

[missusduray]

If I keep my chicks inside the house in a brooder, do I need a heat lamp? Or will a regular lamp do the trick?
Kristyne
Ps. thanks for the tip on the other questions.

 

[Dawn419]

I'm using a red, 85 watt floodlight in my indoor brooder. The red lamp helps keep them from picking/pecking on one another. Day-old chicks need to be kept at 95 degrees F for their first week. Each week after that you can raise the light a bit to drop the temp by 5 degrees. They will let you know if they are too warm by staying out from under the light. If they are too cool, you will notice them all bunched up together for warmth.

Hope this helps!

 

[michellerene]

I used a regular incandescent 150 watt bulb with a reflector lamp & it worked great. No picking. I reduced it down to a 75 watt after a coupe of weeks.

 

[missusduray]

Thanks for the advice, i did purchase some of the supplies I need to put together my brooder. My chicks ship out on the 29th so I will have them in less than a week. YEAH!
Kristyne

 

[DementedHam]

Small flocks usually don't require a vaccination where-as large flocks do. A small flock is fine, I would say it is easier to take care of them.