I want to make sure I have this right; so I'm asking all in one post

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
I never do this, just chick starter and water.

Then I can set out regular water &
start with: 20% chick starter medicated (is what I've read) for up to 8 wks
then 18% grower from 8 to 15 wks
then 16% complete layer from 16 wks to WHEN???

I just feed organic chick starter until they are 16 weeks old. I never used medicated anymore, no reason to if they are inside. I skip the grower altogether. After that they get layer for the rest of their lives.

No grains during chick-time
what do we use or should avoid in our chicken food...

Just a few things to watch out for. No moldy spoiled food, no water runoff from a compost pile or similar, no potato eyes or green parts, no tomato leaves or stems.

TREATS:
When do we start when they are completely off the starter/grower and complete formulas???
Can we get a large bag of traditional bird seeds to scatter?

I start treats when I put them outside in the baby coop, at about 8 weeks old. Bird seed is fine, black oil sunflower seeds are better.

**When we feed; do we/should we go ahead and scatter regular feed on the ground for the pecking?? or do we save that for treats??

Their regular feed should be some sort of dish, treats can be scattered.

Do they really NEED treats??

They don't NEED them but they are happier and healthier with them!

I have a field next to me that has either:
soybeans, corn (feed corn), alfalfa...
can we feed any/all of that??? maybe the soybean plants aftrer the harvester hass came through??

All that is fine when they are adults.


Good advise on the post above too.

Hope this helps!​

 

[farmerlor]

Quote:
I agree with this. I start my babies with warm water that has some electrolytes in it and chick starter. They don't see grit until they're about a week old and they don't have layer food or oyster shell until they're about 16 weeks old so they're well and truly ready to start laying eggs after they're 20 weeks. They don't see any treats until they're outside and I use the treats to get them in at night when I need them out of the house so I can clean or fill bins or whatever.

 

[Donner]

I pretty much did what McMurray (http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chickcare.html) and Storey's Guide to To Raising Chicken said to do. My wife ordered the kit http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/starter_kit.html.

1) Prepared brooder with shavings covered with newspaper.
2) Feeder with chick starter food and scattered a little on the floor.
3) Water with http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/quik_chik.html vitamins and sugar according to the McMurray chick care instructions above. They got the vitamins in the water until I ran out.
4) When the chicks arrived took them out of the shipping box one at a time and dipped their beak in the water before releasing them in the brooder.
5) About a week or so after arrival removed newspaper, and left chicks on the litter.
6) Moved to bigger brooding box. (They out grew the original...)
7) They were fed starter for several weeks, I did not count. Switched to developer. Feed store ran out of developer one trip so they got flock raiser for a couple weeks.
8) Mine were in the coop outside at about 7-8 weeks with a heat lamp in a corner for a week or two just in case.
9) At about 12 weeks started feeding treats when I felt like it, the coop is litter on dirt, so they probably had a little grit to grind the treats. Also put out a little pigeon grit, so they had some if they wanted.
10) At about 18 weeks put out Oyster shell so if some one decides to start laying they have calcium.

Mine are at about 20 weeks now. I have 2 that have started laying. I will probably switch to an unmedicated Flock Raiser with free choice oyster shell for the next 2-4 weeks until all are laying, then I will have to decide whether to stick with that or switch to layer. I throw chicken grit on the ground every once in a while, so they won't have problems with any treats.

This is the first time in my adult life starting chicks on my own (my family had a few chickens when I was a kid). We ordered 25 day old chicks from McMuuray at the end of September last year and got 30. Every one of them is alive today. I hear normal is to lose about 10% of day old chicks for no apparent reason, so I don't know if I did something right or just got lucky or some combination of both.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If your chicks come to you on time, they usually do great on just chick starter and water. Where sugar water really makes a difference, is if they get stuck in transit too long. Then they can arrive in weak condition. Sugar water can absorb into their body faster and get their blood sugar up to where it should be. If you have any that are too weak to drink, you should be prepared to put a drop at a time on their beaks. I always have an eye dropper around for this. A syringe or pipette works, too. Most of the time you never need to do this, but it's good to be prepared, just in case.

It's good advise to have your brooder ready ahead of time. At least the night before, make sure you have the brooder light set so that the brooder is at the right temperature. You don't want to be adjusting that with the chicks in the brooder, especially if you have to work on any of them. Besides, you'll want to just relax and enjoy watching them, not worry about the temperature.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

I know the poster two above me said they covered their shavings with newspaper, but PLEASE don't do this! Newspaper is too slick for their little legs and they can get spraddled from this. If you are going to cover the shavings (pine, never cedar) use paper towels. I am perpetually hatching here, so I don't cover my shavings and the new ones do just fine without them being covered. I have covered them and it just looks gross once they start pooping no matter how often you change it.

 

[Momagain1]

whats the benefits of
pine shavings vs sand?? in the brooder

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I ONLY use pine shavings. SO easy to dump out and clean and smell better too.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Quote:
I think baby chicken poo is too little to use a litter sifter on. I only use pine shavings with my chickens. It smells very nice and they have so much fun playing in it.