Likely hood of losing a chick?

[3riverschick]

Go to Walmart and get a $9 hygrometer. it's digital . Measures both temperature and humidity so that you can know what's going on in your brooder.
Use 1/2 teaspoon of Nutridrench to one quart of water. Give It to them for the 1st week to get them off to a strong start. No need for anything else in their water. Buy a cup of Okios Triple Zero Vanilla Yogurt. Very pure for babies. Give them a small helping every day. Take out of Brooder after about 10 minutes so it doesn't spoil under the lamp. At this age it is all about nourishing and augmenting the developing G.I. tract with gentle, pure, nourishing, extremely easy to digest nutrients.
Best,
Karen.

 

[mistycolleen]

My wife and I are going to be getting 3 RIR AND 3 BLACK Sexlink hens in a week. Just curious as to what are chances are of us have six healthy birds and not losing any of them; this is our first time owning chicks

hi familyman! i too am a newbie this year and have obsessively researched and dreamed for years about the day i would get chickens. i couldn't believe the responses from family and friends when i first ordered my chicks. nearly every ones first response was "well..expect to lose half of them...." it was a little discouraging when i was just so dang excited and they were all such downers. I'm happy to say i ha vent lost a single one! everyone seems happy and healthy and growing like crazy!
i might spend way too much time with them but i cant help it with how fast they change daily! I've had a couple of cases of pasty butt and treated it to the best of my knowledge. even the one sad chick i reluctantly got from a local farmer to me. i didn't think she would make it that first night and its been a full week and there doesn't seem to be anything stopping her.

my only advice would be regardless of what you think you ll need id buy extra. waterers, feeders, lights, bulbs. i only prepared two brooders and now have four. that meant alto of unnecessary trips to fleet to pick up what i needed and lord knows what else each trip. your going to love BYC! everyone here is so helpful and its awesome actually having a support group with people who have the same interest we do. this is the first place i come to for questions.

good luck! I'm sure your going to do just great and will enjoy every minute of it like i have this first year!

 

[Stephine]

You can't really know. A lot depends on how much stress the little ines are exposed to. If you get them shipped length of transit and temperature play a big role.
Last spring I got one batch of 11 and one of 4 chicks - all lived. This spring I just got a batch of three and one died. Could have been a defect or gotten too cold in shipping.
That said, I just had a hen from my batch of 4 last year keel over dead with no warning. You just never know. Good luck!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

My wife and I are going to be getting 3 RIR AND 3 BLACK Sexlink hens in a week. Just curious as to what are chances are of us have six healthy birds and not losing any of them; this is our first time owning chicks

Always look for the NPIP label.

Also remember the old song and dance. "Don't count your chickens before they've hatched.' Or in your case arrived.

The only people who have never had a chick to draw-up and die on them have likely never had very many chicks.

Get in there and raise those biddies, it is a great hobby.

 

[lazy gardener]

My wife and I are going to be getting 3 RIR AND 3 BLACK Sexlink hens in a week. Just curious as to what are chances are of us have six healthy birds and not losing any of them; this is our first time owning chicks

Hi. your post is a bit confusing b/c hens are over a year old, while chicks are... chicks. A female chick is called a pullet until she is a year old, while a male is called a cockrel until he is a year old, then, he is called a cock bird or a rooster. You really don't need a hygrometer. Just a thermometer if you are using a heat lamp. But, I strongly suggest that you DO NOT use a heat lamp, and use a heating pad. There is an article in my signature line written by Blooie. Heating pad brooding is much safer, takes a lot of guess work out of brooding chicks, is not as expensive, gives the chicks a much more natural environment. Also look into fermented feed. How and why article written by Tikki Jane in my signature.

BTW, welcome to BYC!!!

 

[jennyf]

As someone with limited space, I've looked for information on this too! I need to end up with pretty close to how many chickens I want to end up with!

The nice thing about feed stores is that often you'll get chicks that are several days old and a few days past shipping, so (sadly) any that got too stressed are already gone. Here's my experirnce (this is only my second year raising chickens but I've done a TON of reading and still am learning from this great site).

6 layers, bought from feed store from hatchery at around a week old, all 6 made it

16 Cornish Cross, feed store ordered them from Ideal, I picked them up as soon as they arrived at feed store, 1 loss at around Day 3

6 layers, I drove to Cackle to pick up, 1 loss at around Day 3.

Second what folks are saying about asking where the store gets their chicks! You also should take a few minutes to observe when you get there in terms of chick appearance. Are you seeing lots of pasty butt? Weak or lethargic chicks? Diarrhea? Walking out empty handed and looking somewhere else is better than dealing with the alternative. Take your time to check out your chicks too. I'm usually repeating to myself: Butt, Feet, Eyes, Beak. As in not pasty or protruding/red vent, toes and legs straight, eyes both present (ha) and beak not crossed. Good luck, wish I had five acres! You'll have a blast!

 

[3riverschick]

Original poster,
if you're still around would you please tell us how old these birds are, where you're getting them from ?it would help a lot in advising you. also where you live .
thank you,
Karen

 

[Familyman0803]

Live in Depauville,NY. They will be chicks, sorry for referring to them as hens. They will be four days old or younger depending on how long it takes to ship to the store. I still have not found out where the people at True Value are getting them. I have a brooder I built here at home and they will be in my spare bedroom until old enough to go out to the coop and free range( well they have my fenced in 1 acre backyard). Also, do y'all have any suggestions as to what I should put in a Hen/Chic first aid kit?

 

[nickglo]

This is my first year with chickens too, i went big and ordered 16 of them, i did not lose even one of them. they are all very healthy, they are 6 weeks old now, the only problem i had with them was pasty butt, you have to make sure to clean there vents and constantly check to see if there poop is stuck throughout the first 2 weeks. after that it wasn't a problem anymore, make sure to check on them 2-3 times a day minimum and adjust the heat lamp as required, make sure they have food and water and crushed granite for chick grit, and thats basically it, sit back and be entertained.

 

[PirateGirl]

my shopping list (given to me from the farmer/breeder with much more experience than I) included (organic) apple cider vinegar, fresh garlic, oregano, and molasses

also I learned that when younger you need chick grit instead of regular grit (different size because they are little)

you need to decide early if you are trying to go organic with your flock or not because whether or not you buy chicks that are vaccinated comes into play and what you feed them from day one makes a different how you market your eggs/meat, or if it's for personal use only you have to decide what is important to you