danceswithronin
Crowing
1. What is the best food? How do I know it's a quality one? I know they need chick starter or a starter-grower mix.
2. Should their first meal be something special to help them get over their travels? Scrambled eggs or mashed cat food (super high quality, grain free) or something?
3. I have that long red feeding trough for the chicks, is that good for 15 of them?
4. I'm going to set up 2 bottles with vertical nipples. Any problem using that from the very start? I also have a regular waterer I can use.
5. Do they need grit? When? What kind? I do want to give them kitchen scraps, etc. as I think fresh food is good for all animals... when can I start with that?
6. Do they need direct sun?? The barn is pretty dark and their brooder will be even darker once I close up one wall with some plywood (it's completely open into a "room", I think it used to be for laying boxes). They will still have a natural daylight cycle but not really a lot of light!
7. The run that they will live in is on the other side of the barn, and I'm not sure I can bring them through to it directly because there's a "cat room" in between and I just don't want to leave all those interesting smells for the barn kitties, even though I never see them in there. So I'll have to take them outside in a box or something (can they be trained to follow me that young??). How much time should they spend outside, and starting when? These girls are not going to be babied or coddled later so I do want them to get used to the outdoors, but I obviously want them to be happy and healthy, so... what would you do
I think that's it as far as q's for now! LOL
Thank you so much for any feedback!
And if you want to just share our excitement for their impending arrival (should be here by this day next week!), then jump right in)))
1. Chick starter feed is best, it has everything they need. Add some Nutridrench or other poultry vitamins to the water if you want to bolster them. You can give them some soft mashed boiled egg yolks too, but I would mostly stick to chick feed the first few days unless you have one that obviously needs a boost. I have also had success feeding chicks a few days old room temperature liquid raw egg yolk from a backyard hen to help bolster them. I don't think I'd try it with a grocery store egg though.
2. See #1. Also do NOT feed treats or anything other than chick feed or soft mashed egg yolk for the first week or so until the chicks are old enough to get chick grit (which they need - look for it at the farm supply store). If you feed chicks anything but chick feed before they have grit in their crops, they will not be able to digest it properly and it may kill them.
3. Feeding trough should be fine.
4. Waterers should be fine, just make sure anything you use isn't wide or deep enough for a chick to accidentally drown in.
5. See #2. Wait until the chicks are a few weeks old for anything but feed and mashed egg yolk and liquid vitamins. After that point they can have some finely chopped lettuce, dried strawberries, whatever. But make sure they have chick grit too. I like the Manna kind with probiotics added.
6. Light is less important than heat - they will need a brooder lamp. I personally recommend the Brinsea EcoGlow brooder lamps because they maintain a very safe, consistent temperature, give overhead heating (which is preferred and replicates the natural overhead warmth of a broody hen), and they don't get hot enough to be a fire danger.
7. I personally don't start taking my chicks outside of the brooder to free range under supervision until they are 2-3 weeks old and I feel like they are reasonably strong. Smaller chicks chill easily, stress easily, and can be vulnerable to bacteria and whatnot found in the dirt. They do eventually need exposure to these things to develop coccidiosis immunity, but I would not expose them to environments with a lot of unknown bacterias or protozoa until their natural immunity is high and they are thriving. They are so fragile up to a month of age, so I am very careful with them during this time.
