Need the right advice re: 1-day old chick supplies

[Wezdin]

If you have any other questions just ask and someone here will be able to help!

 

[Mrs. K]

Clean dry bedding, clean water, chick starter feed and a warmer space and a cooler space so the chicks can move from one to the other as they need. Get them outside around week 3. I use the vertical nipples just fine with young chicks - it does keep the water cleaner.

Be aware, some chicks die of failure to thrive. There really is not much you can do about it, some people feel terrible guilty if a chick dies, and some of them will. I have had them die about day 2-3, and then for some reason I have also lost some about 8 weeks. Not very many, but a few over the years. I think it is a genetic ailment. Anymore I don't worry about it, just say dang and move on. Some people do worry about it.

It is a wonderful hobby.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

Yes, I've read about everything and that might be part of my problem! lol

It might indeed...and not everything you read will be accurate or necessary
You'll have to use some judgement, common sense, and be flexible and ready to adjust.

Here's my blurb on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate


here's a nice informative post about using a heat plate:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...my-brooder-plans.1293399/page-6#post-21053270

 

[minaayindra]

It might indeed...and not everything you read will be accurate or necessary
You'll have to use some judgement, common sense, and be flexible and ready to adjust.

Here's my blurb on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate


here's a nice informative post about using a heat plate:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...my-brooder-plans.1293399/page-6#post-21053270

Thanks- I think I’m going to go with the plate because I’m too new to this to ensure their safety with the heat! Appreciate the words of encouragement...

 

[minaayindra]

Clean dry bedding, clean water, chick starter feed and a warmer space and a cooler space so the chicks can move from one to the other as they need. Get them outside around week 3. I use the vertical nipples just fine with young chicks - it does keep the water cleaner.

Be aware, some chicks die of failure to thrive. There really is not much you can do about it, some people feel terrible guilty if a chick dies, and some of them will. I have had them die about day 2-3, and then for some reason I have also lost some about 8 weeks. Not very many, but a few over the years. I think it is a genetic ailment. Anymore I don't worry about it, just say dang and move on. Some people do worry about it.

It is a wonderful hobby.

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

well there is no use in pretending different. Sometimes I think that people with a great deal of sensibility, should not do chickens, they generally are not a real long lived pet, and then they feel so guilty that they died, when in fact all you can do is give them a good life as long as you have them.

But I keep a flock, the birds in the flock come and go, and I am comfortable with that. To me, it is unrealistic to expect a different outcome.

 

[minaayindra]

well there is no use in pretending different. Sometimes I think that people with a great deal of sensibility, should not do chickens, they generally are not a real long lived pet, and then they feel so guilty that they died, when in fact all you can do is give them a good life as long as you have them.

But I keep a flock, the birds in the flock come and go, and I am comfortable with that. To me, it is unrealistic to expect a different outcome.

Of course you are right, it's just not a happy thought for me. I will do the best I can but I've certainly lost many animals throughout my life and I could survive this too.

 

[Mrs. K]

Good - it is never fun, but some people truly seem to go into a decline, and have rather what I think is unrealistic expectations.

Welcome to this hobby, it is truly a wonderful hobby that I have enjoyed for years! All aspects of it. So much fun is a new egg, even yet, nothing better than a hen with chicks to watch, and really the pride in a wonderful meal of home grown chickens are a pleasure in life.

Mrs K

 

[minaayindra]

Thanks to all of you, my first 16 chicks arrived today and they are all in beautiful shape-yay! One issue I’m having is a vertical nipple water dispenser. The brilliant ones figured it out with absolutely no instruction and half of the rest got it from watching the first chicks. Some of my more “challenged” babies just race right by it as if it doesn’t exist! lol. Anyway, the nipple on the waterer drips water out, usually when one was just drinking from it. This stops quickly but the wet has already gotten into the paper towels and pine shavings. Since I hear so much advice about not letting them get damp or wet, I’m at a loss; it seems to be what it should be, yet surely this is not something that happens all the time or no one would use them!

 

[aart]

The only good trick I've read about for those pesky Vertical Nipples,
is to put a shallow dish like a large jar lid filled with pea gravel under it.
Will catch drips, prevent chicks from getting wet feet or drowning.
It will have to be cleaned daily tho.