July 18th "Due Date"! Anyone else?

[Lady Chickadee]

Thanks everyone! She still won't drink or eat on her own and I can't get her to eat any of the chick feed. Shes pecked at it a couple times but that's it. She is starting to move around a little better though.

 

[Gerry2011]

You are sooooooo right about not getting anything done!! Can't stand to be away from them...afraid I'll miss something. This is not my first rodeo either, I had chickens years ago when I lived on a farm and even then I really enjoyed watching the chickens. When I can finally tear myself away from watching these gorgeous babies, I'll try to get pictures posted. Thanks so much for all the support, advice and encouragement.

 

[Gerry2011]

My lab and beagle cross hoping to have chicken nuggets for dinner. Bad, dogs.



The whole crew. Aren't they sweet?


The reds are the red sex-links, the yellow are the Delaware x Hampshires and the blacks the black sex-links. Oh, all pullets.


As you can see by the "crown" on his head this is the King of the coop. He's a Delaware.

 

[N&MSchroeder]

Very cute!

Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your new chicks!

 

[GardenState38]

They're a beautiful bunch! Love that little roo! He looks like he's crowing already, in the picture!
Enjoy them!
Best of Luck!

 

[ForgePondFarm]

I was working with a wonderful local breeder who had more than her share of horrid luck. As a result no chicks from two attempts. We are however not down and out. I threw the dice and today 60 chicks arrived from Iowa via th USPS. This kinda lends credence to the stork theory.

Unfortunatly we had 1 DOA. The rest are settled in and doing well. Frankly the chicks are doing better than me. I rather underestimated how much brooder space would be required. My origional plan to use 4 110qt storage containers (modified) was not going to work. So in the 100degree heat in four hours with the assistance of my daughters we built a 4x4 brooder condo and turned 1 of the 110 quart brooder into our isolation ward. When I get a breather I will post pics in the appropriate thread. I did go back and read this thread with pictures and have a few questions. First someone has their chicks on pine shavings. I thought shavings were out the first few weeks? They have plenty of water and food although it still looks like a major food fight in the brooder. What about grit? When should he starter grit be introduced? One came with an injured beak with some minor bleeding at the top about midway up. The other chicks were pecking t I so she is in isolation with a calm friend right now. What could cause the beak issue? Currently the temperature is in the low hundreds. I have th brooder in he basement 80 degrees ambient plus het lamps. I want to move h brooder outside into the coop complex in two weeks. I am in Massachusetts. Anyone see a problem that? I love BYC.

 

[Gerry2011]

Far as I know starter/grower has grit in it, so none is needed at this time. If later they are allowed to range they will naturally eat dirt and gravels so it might not be necessary to feed it, but that being said it doesn't hurt to have it available. I had my chicks on paper toweling for a day, but all I did was change it out!! As my hubby said all we did all day was changing diapers!

So this a.m. out went the paper and back to the pine shavings. There is some risk that they will eat too much of it which could give them problems but in the past that's how I did it and never experienced any trouble. Not much is written in stone. What works for one might not for another. After all if they'd hatched naturally under their mom who free ranged, they'd been running around eating whatever is out there. Not sure about the beak, but it could be it was pecked causing the injury. I'd keep him isolated until it heals, then put him back and keep an eye on him to see if he's being excessively pecked on. It sounds to me like the temps in your brooders could be lowered....95-100?...because of the heat I've had to turn the light off during the day because it was going over 100 in the brooder. It maintained temp around 95+ without the light....which was wamer than the ambient air around it. The babies should do just fine outside. I'm curious, how long did it take for your chicks to arrive from Iowa? I ordered mine from a hatchery only 3.5 hours away and I was a nervous wreck until they came!! Good luck and enjoy your babies.

 

[N&MSchroeder]

I use pine shavings in the brooder from day one. I know others don't so it is a personal decision.

I find that it is cleaner with the shavings. I tried it without and found that my chicks were always stepping in their poop and walking around with it.

I believe the pine shavings help. I am careful not to put any shavings around their waterer/feeder. The first day, I place a little of their chick starter (I use mash) on the paper towels in that area. They seem to get the idea quicker. Of course, some of the shavings get carried down to that end, but I haven't had a problem with it other than they have learned to play "keep away" with it and the whole group does the mad dash around the brooder chasing the one with a pine shaving in its mouth.

Congrats on your new chicks!

 

[ForgePondFarm]

Thx for the advice

 

[GardenState38]

Quote:
Firstly, Congrats!

My picture of my yellow chick on shavings was taken on the second day I had her. I put paper towels on top of the aspen shavings for the first day, but then took them away the next. So far, so good...no problems with eating the shavings--they peck at them, but seem to know they aren't food.

I put out chick grit just after I made sure they had had their first feed and water. I first sprinkled some on the paper towel and they ran to it and started pecking at it immediately! I've read that it's perfectly fine to put it out for chicks from the start (and I've also read that they don't need it, that there is grit in the crumbles). However, since they don't seem to bother with it unless they need it (and they seem to have a natural instinct to know this), I don't think it hurts having it for them.
I'm rather glad they have it, since crickets have been managing to find their way into the brooder (attracted by the heat lamp, I suppose) and so far, they've feasted on 5 crickets! What a show!

Lately, it looks like my largest, the Cuckoo Marans, has been trying to take a dust bath in the grit, so I may put a pan of play sand into the brooder.

I only have 5 chicks, but I think I also misjudged the size of my brooder and will soon need to figure out a way to expand soon. I plan to keep my chickes inside for about 4 weeks before putting them out, but I'm going to see how it goes and how quickly they develop and feather out.


Enjoy your babies!




Good Luck!