My Meyer Hatchery Fuzzy Butts Are Here!! Picture Heavy!!!

[Nicolette'sFarmette]

They are so cute...I love the speckled Sussex! I miss my chicks being that little...mine are almost 10 weeks now! Enjoy!

 

[pottymouthspoultry]

C-u-t-e!

 

[coalroadcabin]

Oh my, such a big bunch of cute-ness! I love your pictures.

I'm so glad your delivery turned out well. Sorry for the lost cornish, but I at least everybody else is happy and healthy.

 

[Schwartzfarmnc]

You know you should not be showing me these pics, my babies from Meyers are now almost 20 weeks and laying eggs, makes me want to call them and them ship me another load of chicks!!

They are so adorable, I also recieved SS's and they were the first to start laying and both are beautiful, enjoy them while they are young...so cute.

 

[SC-ChickMom]

So cute.

Please excuse the ignorance (newbie here) what is in the shallow bowl on the left? Is there a reason why you didn't give them just water? TIA

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Quote:
The shallow bowl on the left is filled with play sand with a little food sprinkled on top. The chicks eat some of the play sand, which contains prebiotics, grit & minerals, which helps with digestion and helps prevent pasty butt. Chicks stressed and dehydrated by being shipped in a box are more apt to have pasty butt issues. Later they will dust bathe in their sand box and will give me loads of entertainment. As you can see from the pic of the sunbathing chick, they know right away what that sand box is for. I am sold on the benefits of a sand box in the brooder from day one.

The electrolytes & vitamins in the water are for the same reason. A chick that hatched on Monday, like mine did, then immediately packed tight in a in a box in this heat until Wednesday morning will be very stressed and dehydrated. The Sav-a-Chick or Quik Chik is like Gatorade or Pedialyte for humans. It has the electrolytes (magnesium, potassium, salt) and vitamins to quickly rehydrate the stressed chick and replace the vitamins and minerals lost due to stress. They contain a lot of B vitamins, like Stress Tabs for humans.

Also, the chicks like the taste, which means they will keep drinking. When I switched my last batch to plain water after the second day, they cut water consumption in half. It took them a few days to forget how much more they liked the Sav-a-Chick water. They would come running when I refreshed the water, only to take a sip and realize it was just water.