Just some general questions (not quite sure if this is the right thread)

[Void_Priestess]

Hello, friends! Me and my family are looking to possibly get chickens and I need a bit of advice since we will be raising them from chicks. I have a bunch of questions here that I need some help with. I'm sorry for the amount.

1. We will be looking to buy them from the Chicken Outfitters and I'd like to know if they are a good hatchery (I think that's the right term) to buy from. I saw some reviews that looked odd on their Australorp page and I want to check and see if my paranoia has a basis.

2. Is it a good idea to keep chicks next to a radiator to warm them or to put hot water bottles wrapped in polar fleece in their little enclosure space to keep them warm. The first idea is mine and the second idea I saw online and would like to seek the opinion of you guys. If it helps, the brooder (also hoping that's the right term) will be made of cardboard.

3. How big is a baby chick? Is it the size of a standard tin can? Half of one? A quarter? I'm not good with measurements unless I have a ruler in front of me so that's why I'm asking in terms of tin cans.

4. Would y'all recommend I use a heat lamp instead of anything else? If so then what kind would you recommend for a first-timer (if that fact even matters)?

5. Is it a good idea to feed the chickens very very cut up lettuce in addition to a starter feed? Would they need some grit for that?

6. When they get older, would I want to give them supplemental calcium in the form of oyster shells that was bought separately or is the calcium in the feed enough for them? Is there even calcium in the feed?

7. Is this good feed from anyone's experience? https://www.amazon.com/Country-Heri...-supplies&sprefix=chick+start,pets,186&sr=1-9

Pardon all my question about that specific chicken feed. I'm just insanely nervous about what to feed them. I want to make sure that it's okay. And also I know about the thing about how you can't feed chickens that were vaccinated against the gut disease that I believe the name of is Coccidiosis the medicated feed because it'll mess with the vaccine. Just in case that information is needed.

Thank you for the help! Again, I hope this is the right forum. Hope everyone is having a nice day.

 

[igorsMistress]

Hello and welcome!

It would be my recommendation not to keep the chicks near the radiator and to use a heat plate rather than a lamp. When raised by a mother they leave her warmth to explore and come back to snuggle in her feathers if they're cold. This helps them adjust to different temperatures. A heat plate mimics this somewhat and will keep them on a natural light cycle so you're not up in the night listening to tiny chicken raves. Chicks are roughly comparable to a can of tomato paste give or take. Any chick feed is fine as long as it meets the minimum nutrition but I've never used that brand. Chicks get chick feed because they don't need the calcium. Once the girls are laying you can offer layer feed, chick feed or all flock with oyster shell free choice. If you give anything other than feed you need to offer grit. Dark leafy greens, herbs, fruit, vegetables, scratch and bugs, meat etc but this should all be limited to about 10% of their diet. I use a wire suet feeder to hold greens. They will nip off pieces to eat and something to hold the greens makes it easier for them.

 

[NatJ]

3. How big is a baby chick? Is it the size of a standard tin can? Half of one? A quarter? I'm not good with measurements unless I have a ruler in front of me so that's why I'm asking in terms of tin cans.

About the size of an egg. Add skinny legs sticking out the bottom, a little head at one end, and fluff all over.

 

[NatJ]

5. Is it a good idea to feed the chickens very very cut up lettuce in addition to a starter feed? Would they need some grit for that?

For the first week or so, just give them the starter feed. If you want to give them a "treat," get a little bit of the starter feed wet with water. For some reason, chickens seem to like it that way--and it's got the very same nutrition, wet or dry. (But wet can spoil if you leave it sitting around too long, so keep the feeders full of dry feed, and use the wet only in small amounts as a treat.)

Later, lettuce is fine. Yes, they should have grit when they're getting anything besides the starter feed. Think of lettuce (and watermelon) as being crunchy water--little nutritional value, but fun to munch, and does have some water (so good in hot weather.) It should not take the place of food, and you don't want them filling their bellies so much they skip the food, but a bit of it is fine.

6. When they get older, would I want to give them supplemental calcium in the form of oyster shells that was bought separately or is the calcium in the feed enough for them? Is there even calcium in the feed?

All chicken feed contains some calcium. Chick starter contains one amount, layer feed contains a higher amount for when hens are laying eggs. It is fine to provide a separate container of oyster shell, at any age--chickens can generally be trusted not to over-eat oystershell.

Layer feed is fine for laying hens, and they will probably not need extra oyster shell if they eat layer feed. But there's nothing special about layer feed except the extra calcium. As long as you provide oyster shell, laying hens will do just fine on chick starter for their entire lives; or on Flock Raiser or All-Flock or similar types of feed (also with oyster shell provided.)

 

[NatJ]

7. Is this good feed from anyone's experience? https://www.amazon.com/Country-Heritage-Medicated-Starter-Crumbled/dp/B07G24KDPM/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1LYPC4UJDAOQK&dchild=1&keywords=chick+starter+medicated&qid=1587511251&s=pet-supplies&sprefix=chick+start,pets,186&sr=1-9

Pardon all my question about that specific chicken feed. I'm just insanely nervous about what to feed them. I want to make sure that it's okay.

I have no personal experience with that feed, but it's probably fine. In general, anything labelled "chick starter" tends to be fine.

That feed looks very is expensive to me: I'm seeing a price of $15 for 5 pounds. My local Tractor Supply Company has bags of chick starter that weigh 50 pounds (ten times as much feed!) for prices between $15 and $20.
Depending on how many chickens you intend to get, you may want to find a cheaper source of feed.

https://www.nutrenaworld.com/blog/how-much-does-a-chicken-eat
This page estimates that each layer-type chick will eat about 10 pounds of food in the first 10 weeks of life. So if you had 5 pullets, they would eat 50 pounds of chick starter in those first 10 weeks (less than 3 months)--and then eat the next bag faster yet. At maturity, 5 hens would eat a 50 pound bag of feed about every month and a half. (I picked 5 pullets because it made the arithmetic easy; I don't know how many you actually want to get.)

 

[ChxLadyMary]

Hi! I messaged you with some links to answer your questions!