more nervous about chicks than children

[Criticalicious]

Yes, great post Blooie! I would add a point of clarification on the grit/chick starter item - If you feed a whole grain chick starter like New Country Organics or Scratch n Peck feeds, you need to offer grit from Day One (usually the feed manufacturer information will tell you this). The commercially produced chick starter doesn't require grit because it's already been ground and pressed to a pulp to make it easier to digest. And when first offered grit, babies SHOULD gorge on it because they need to fill up their gizzards for the first time. They'll slow down after that first time.

I stressed over my first batch of chicks, but after a certain point I realized that, as much as I love them and care for them and care about their well-being, chickens are livestock that double as pets, and unless you're raising super-rare endangered breeds, you can probably get more much more easily than you can other animals. (Damn you chicken math!!)

 

[tpatricco]

Okay, take a deep breath. This post will be long! I’m known for being wordy! I read one thing in your original post that I’d like to go back to. You said, “I thought they’d only need simple food...”. We can build from there, because you are absolutely right - they just need simple food. Oh, I know, these pages are filled with probiotics, ACV, electrolytes, yada yada. Folks stress about grit, oyster shell, extra vitamins, and chopping, peeling, coring, deseeding, disinfecting everything and so on. No wonder new owners who want to the best for their chicks go a little crazy stressing out. I darn sure did! And how I whined about my chicks running from me instead of to me! But I got lucky - I had a great mentor on here named @Beekissed, who gave me a much needed kick in the hiney and told me pretty much what I’m about to say to you.

So we’re going to think like we are broody hens instead of humans. After all, if a two pound hen can raise chicks without charts, experts, web sites and books, why do we do it so differently and think we're doing it better?

First of all, they don’t have to like you. Nope. At first they follow their natural instincts to hide from predators. But where can they hide until they are over their panic? They have no place in a brooder box...just four brightly lit walls! Instinct tells them to duck under something, but since there is no place all they can do is run around the sides of the box, stopping occasionally to huddle together. They know that the one on the outside of the pile will likely be the one taken, so none of them want to be on the outside. Normally they’d all fit under Mom until the danger passed, but since they can’t do that, they start running again. Around and around in total panic they go, and panic feeds panic. So no wonder they aren’t too crazy about people - we are huge, persistent predators to them, especially when we suddenly loom up from nowhere beside their box and stick a hand in there! Remedy: If you can, elevate the brooder. I know that’s not always possible, but it helps. As you enter the room they are in, start talking or singing softly. Approach slowly. Don’t plunge your hand in there. Instead put a treat in your hand and place it, palm up, inside the brooder. Keep singing or talking. Don’t stare, just glance from time to time. Let them settle and determine the degree of danger for themselves since there’s no Mom to cluck to them that it’s safe. Your hand may feel like it’s going to fall off before any venture near, and they may not dare the first few times, but keep it up. And remember, as they get closer to point of lay they often become more docile anyway, although it’s hard to wait. Let THEM decide to come to you. Repeat the same phrase when you offer treats. Soon when they hear that phrase, they’ll come running. You can also drop a treat on the floor of the brooder and tap it with your fingernail. That’s how a broody tells them she’s got something good.

Now let’s move to food. A mother hen doesn’t fuss over what they eat. In fact, the first couple of days out in the world they often eat chicken poop, which gives them a few antibodies. If she finds some goodies, she calls to them to come see what she’s found and they chow down, no matter how young they are or what’s there, and she doesn’t worry about how clean it is. All chicks really need is a good quality chick starter. If they get nothing but that, their nutritional needs are being well met. What they love is the bonus of a few extras. With those, their instinctive and mental exercise needs are also being met. They are almost hatched knowing how to scratch around for things to find. They don’t need grit unless they are eating things besides just chick starter. I found that when I put a container of chick grit in there for my first chicks, they gorged on it until their little crops were bulging! Not good! So, again advised by @Beekissed, @lazy gardener, and a few other far smarter chick raisers, I went outside and dug up a clump of sod -weeds, grasses, tiny rocks, roots and all - and plunked it grass side down in their box. At first they were terrified. But soon one brave chick came over to check it out, and the next thing I knew all 22 of them were up there scratching, digging, pecking at it and having a great time. In the process they were getting chick sized bits of grit from the soil as well as being introduced to the pathogens and fungi that would be present in the ground where they’d eventually be living. As it broke down they loved to dust bathe in it. Win, win! If you don’t want to do that, but still want to feed them some treats and know they need grit for that, then let them see you scatter some on top of the bedding so they need to scratch it up to get it. Again, we are trying to use what comes naturally to them.

Water doesn’t need to have a darned thing added to it UNLESS chicks are suffering from shipping stress, or recovering from an illness. Even the backs of the packages say that, say to use them for short term, and advise that fresh, clean, plain water be available at the same time. If your chicks are healthy, then obviously all of the probiotics and electrolytes in their little bodies are already in complete balance. Why would it be necessary to add more of what they don’t need? Seems to me that throws a balanced system out of balance. Back to Mommy Hen...she doesn’t care if they drink out of mud puddles or other standing water. So while I do try to keep their waterers clean, I am not stressing over it! They always have fresh water, and that’s whats important.

So where are we? Oh, yeah. We have chicks getting a good quality food, a few added treats (don’t forget a grit source), and clean fresh water. We aren’t trying to MAKE them like us....we’re letting them WANT to like us on their terms. See? Simple! Done and done!

I take it one step further and try to totally duplicate a mother broody hen as closely as I can. I raise them outdoors from the start with a soft, dark, heating pad cave, even in our springtime temps in the teens and twenties. They have a warm place to duck under if they need a quick warmup or get spooked. They go to sleep under there at sundown and wake up at dawn, raring to go. Their brooder is a wire pen in the run where the adults can walk around them on three sides, and they learn to be chickens by watching chickens. If the adults get scratch, so do they. I toss the adults’ treats on their side of the wire and the chicks’ treats on theirs, but they are eating face to face, learning to feed together. At 2 weeks the little doors to their brooder are opened and I gently herd them in and out a few times until they know where their safe space and their Mama Heating Pad is. After that I don’t even need to exist except to refill food and water and open their little doors. By three weeks they spend all day with the adults, and by 4 weeks the brooder pen and heating pad cave are removed completely, because I have total, peaceful integration. Yet these batches of chicks are the calmest, most confident chicks I’ve ever raised! They’ve learned to regulate their heat and security needs on their own, using the instincts they were hatched with. They are friendly because the adults (all but 4 were raised the same way, by the way) exhibit no fear of me, which transmits to the chicks. I’m not stressed, the chicks aren’t stressed, and I can use the charts, books, and expert advice for....for....Gee, I guess I don’t need to use them at all! All I needed to do was copy a broody hen! I’ve now raised 8 batches of chicks this way over the years, and they are healthy, strong, confident and friendly.

Thank you Blooie. As a newbie chicken keeper, I really needed all that info!

 

[Blooie]

Glad it might be helpful. I think we overthink. When I realized I was obsessing and stressing over my chicks, I had to admit that I wasn't enjoying the experience one bit...I didn't even LIKE them anymore! Well, DUH! Cleaning out the brooder, moving 22 scared chicks three times a day to keep everything clean, replacing water 6 times a day (8 times one day because if there was even a pine shaving in there I felt I had to replace it!), wanting sweet little chicks on my shoulder and getting terrified little chicks that did nothing but run from me (and kick more shavings into their water) convinced me that I was the worst chicken owner on the planet. I evicted the little jerks to the coop at 5.5 weeks, before the coop was even finished, and it was still Wyoming Springtime Chick Season weather - down to 18 degrees the first night. But it was them or me! Reality bites! Now I look forward to getting chicks...I enjoy them so much. They accept me on their terms. And following the patterns they are hatched to follow has made their lives better too!

 

[alaskalife]

OMG!!! I feel like I wrote this post!!!! Xoxo! I have 4 10-week old chicks and 2 4-week old bantams. Let me know if you need someone to stress with

Chaunté

mine are 4 weeks old now. I’ve calmed down just a small amount haha. But i do need more space for them. Ugh. Still to cold here in Alaska to put them in an unheated coop. Unheated because the anxiety i have thinking of the thing catching fire is just overwhelming. I’m thinking about extending my tote in the garage to give them more space they are growing like CRAZY.

 

[alaskalife]

Okay, take a deep breath. This post will be long! I’m known for being wordy! I read one thing in your original post that I’d like to go back to. You said, “I thought they’d only need simple food...”. We can build from there, because you are absolutely right - they just need simple food. Oh, I know, these pages are filled with probiotics, ACV, electrolytes, yada yada. Folks stress about grit, oyster shell, extra vitamins, and chopping, peeling, coring, deseeding, disinfecting everything and so on. No wonder new owners who want to the best for their chicks go a little crazy stressing out. I darn sure did! And how I whined about my chicks running from me instead of to me! But I got lucky - I had a great mentor on here named @Beekissed, who gave me a much needed kick in the hiney and told me pretty much what I’m about to say to you.

So we’re going to think like we are broody hens instead of humans. After all, if a two pound hen can raise chicks without charts, experts, web sites and books, why do we do it so differently and think we're doing it better?

First of all, they don’t have to like you. Nope. At first they follow their natural instincts to hide from predators. But where can they hide until they are over their panic? They have no place in a brooder box...just four brightly lit walls! Instinct tells them to duck under something, but since there is no place all they can do is run around the sides of the box, stopping occasionally to huddle together. They know that the one on the outside of the pile will likely be the one taken, so none of them want to be on the outside. Normally they’d all fit under Mom until the danger passed, but since they can’t do that, they start running again. Around and around in total panic they go, and panic feeds panic. So no wonder they aren’t too crazy about people - we are huge, persistent predators to them, especially when we suddenly loom up from nowhere beside their box and stick a hand in there! Remedy: If you can, elevate the brooder. I know that’s not always possible, but it helps. As you enter the room they are in, start talking or singing softly. Approach slowly. Don’t plunge your hand in there. Instead put a treat in your hand and place it, palm up, inside the brooder. Keep singing or talking. Don’t stare, just glance from time to time. Let them settle and determine the degree of danger for themselves since there’s no Mom to cluck to them that it’s safe. Your hand may feel like it’s going to fall off before any venture near, and they may not dare the first few times, but keep it up. And remember, as they get closer to point of lay they often become more docile anyway, although it’s hard to wait. Let THEM decide to come to you. Repeat the same phrase when you offer treats. Soon when they hear that phrase, they’ll come running. You can also drop a treat on the floor of the brooder and tap it with your fingernail. That’s how a broody tells them she’s got something good.

Now let’s move to food. A mother hen doesn’t fuss over what they eat. In fact, the first couple of days out in the world they often eat chicken poop, which gives them a few antibodies. If she finds some goodies, she calls to them to come see what she’s found and they chow down, no matter how young they are or what’s there, and she doesn’t worry about how clean it is. All chicks really need is a good quality chick starter. If they get nothing but that, their nutritional needs are being well met. What they love is the bonus of a few extras. With those, their instinctive and mental exercise needs are also being met. They are almost hatched knowing how to scratch around for things to find. They don’t need grit unless they are eating things besides just chick starter. I found that when I put a container of chick grit in there for my first chicks, they gorged on it until their little crops were bulging! Not good! So, again advised by @Beekissed, @lazy gardener, and a few other far smarter chick raisers, I went outside and dug up a clump of sod -weeds, grasses, tiny rocks, roots and all - and plunked it grass side down in their box. At first they were terrified. But soon one brave chick came over to check it out, and the next thing I knew all 22 of them were up there scratching, digging, pecking at it and having a great time. In the process they were getting chick sized bits of grit from the soil as well as being introduced to the pathogens and fungi that would be present in the ground where they’d eventually be living. As it broke down they loved to dust bathe in it. Win, win! If you don’t want to do that, but still want to feed them some treats and know they need grit for that, then let them see you scatter some on top of the bedding so they need to scratch it up to get it. Again, we are trying to use what comes naturally to them.

Water doesn’t need to have a darned thing added to it UNLESS chicks are suffering from shipping stress, or recovering from an illness. Even the backs of the packages say that, say to use them for short term, and advise that fresh, clean, plain water be available at the same time. If your chicks are healthy, then obviously all of the probiotics and electrolytes in their little bodies are already in complete balance. Why would it be necessary to add more of what they don’t need? Seems to me that throws a balanced system out of balance. Back to Mommy Hen...she doesn’t care if they drink out of mud puddles or other standing water. So while I do try to keep their waterers clean, I am not stressing over it! They always have fresh water, and that’s whats important.

So where are we? Oh, yeah. We have chicks getting a good quality food, a few added treats (don’t forget a grit source), and clean fresh water. We aren’t trying to MAKE them like us....we’re letting them WANT to like us on their terms. See? Simple! Done and done!

I take it one step further and try to totally duplicate a mother broody hen as closely as I can. I raise them outdoors from the start with a soft, dark, heating pad cave, even in our springtime temps in the teens and twenties. They have a warm place to duck under if they need a quick warmup or get spooked. They go to sleep under there at sundown and wake up at dawn, raring to go. Their brooder is a wire pen in the run where the adults can walk around them on three sides, and they learn to be chickens by watching chickens. If the adults get scratch, so do they. I toss the adults’ treats on their side of the wire and the chicks’ treats on theirs, but they are eating face to face, learning to feed together. At 2 weeks the little doors to their brooder are opened and I gently herd them in and out a few times until they know where their safe space and their Mama Heating Pad is. After that I don’t even need to exist except to refill food and water and open their little doors. By three weeks they spend all day with the adults, and by 4 weeks the brooder pen and heating pad cave are removed completely, because I have total, peaceful integration. Yet these batches of chicks are the calmest, most confident chicks I’ve ever raised! They’ve learned to regulate their heat and security needs on their own, using the instincts they were hatched with. They are friendly because the adults (all but 4 were raised the same way, by the way) exhibit no fear of me, which transmits to the chicks. I’m not stressed, the chicks aren’t stressed, and I can use the charts, books, and expert advice for....for....Gee, I guess I don’t need to use them at all! All I needed to do was copy a broody hen! I’ve now raised 8 batches of chicks this way over the years, and they are healthy, strong, confident and friendly.

Oh my gosh thank you thank you thank you. That was everything my heart needed and more. I just learned a lot. Wow. Thank you!!!!!!!

 

[Blooie]

Oh my gosh thank you thank you thank you. That was everything my heart needed and more. I just learned a lot. Wow. Thank you!!!!!!!

Thank you! And welcome to BYC!