New to chicks coming in 3wks

[Amy1444]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Now next on my list is to decide where to put them??? Kitchen or basement , i will keep them upstairs the first week or two, but I am leaning towards brooding in the basement..not too cold, have the red heat lamp, space heater if needed, and using a rubbermaid brooder. I think being upstairs might drive the dogs crazy and the boys would constantly be bugging the little babies! Any advice on doing this in the basement? Average temps in nj lately have been in the mid 40's and with the heat lamp i think they would be fine

 

[Keri78]

Amy! Congrats!

You & your boys are going to LOVE it and wonder what you used to spend your time doing before chickens were around to entertain you!!! I live in NJ too and have four boys!(11yrs, 4yrs,2yrs, and 1yr) They LOVE their chickies!

We bought two seperate batches from Idealpoultry.com and they all came sexed right both times. I would maybe recommend having some antibiotic powder(they sell it for $5 a bag at the Tractor Supply) it's made for all farm animals but will give you the breakdown on the back of the package for chicks. I had some issues with my day old babies having respiratory problems and I lost one REALLY fast and before I lost more I borrowed some of this stuff from my step-mom and immediately after giving it to them they came back around(except for like I said I did loose one..it was horrible!) My step-mom has raised chickens her whole life and she says that she always treats her chicks with this for the first 2 weeks when she buys them from the hatcheries. I also picked up a bag of vitamins to add to their water too. Like I said I just did the antibiotics for the first two weeks then the vitamins for (I honestly can't remember how long? it should say on the package) Anywho...NOT trying to scare you! Chickens are(IMHO) the easiest animal to have! Mine are pretty self sufficient...they free range during the day and march themselves back into their chickie barn at night to sleep! I keep a large black rubber bucket(also from the Tractor Supply!(my new fav. place to shop(lol)! for food and one for water and this gets filled up once a week! It is a little time intensive in the beginning when they are inside and your checking the heat lamp like every 5 mins.(if your a DORK like me!) to make sure their comfy! But it's SOO much fun having baby chicks and it totally allows your little ones to bond with them and spend time holding them so they get to see them grow up into big chickens and they are not intimidated by them once they are full size. I just used a rubber storage container for mine and a heat lamp and just used hay for bedding. Once every few days I would go dump out the old yucky hay and add fresh..no biggy! I used an old piece of screen to set on top of the tote and place the heat lamp right on top of the screen so this way once they got big enough to jump around they wouldn't be jumping up and hitting the heat lamp. It also worked well to keep little hands out and the dog out and to keep the chicks in as they got bigger! Well, have fun and enjoy! Once you get them you'll probably want more!(LOL) But if you do need to sell a few I REALLY don't think you'll have a problem especially this time of year!

Blessings,Keri

 

[Amy1444]

Thanks Keri! I am excited we do not have a tractor supply locally but I can check agway or monmouth feed for the antibiotic powder. I wanted to ask since you are in NJ and free range what do you do about the red tailed hawks. We have a pair that have been getting bluejays and doves in our yard. We have a 20 x 30' run we are setting up and i am debating netting the top. The sides will be 6ft if not a little more..i wish I could let them free range but the hawks are huge. I am getting standards maybe they would do fine?

 

[felidaet]

Put them in your basement, not the kitchen. They generate A LOT of dust by the time they are about 6 weeks old. My brooder was in the garage last year and I felt they generated almost too much dust for even the garage. I moved them into their brand new coop at about 6 weeks old. I set up a heat lamp in one corner and kept the coop closed up most of the time until they were 8 weeks old. Between the dust and the aroma you are not going to want them in your kitchen when you have another option.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
So true. I won't have chicks in the house. I couldn't handle the dust.
Keep in mind, huddling under the heat lamp and (sometimes) peeping loudly, too cold. As far away from the heat lamp as they can get, sometimes panting and holding their little wings out, too hot. Scatter out around the brooder, sometimes under the heat, sometimes not; just right.
ETA: IMO, it is not a good idea to add antibiotics to the water for healthy chicks. Doing so can make the antibiotics ineffective when you need them for a true infection later on. Vitamins are only necessary for weak chicks. Fresh clean water and chick starter is all healthy chicks need to get off to a good start.
While having both antibiotics and vitamins in your chicken first aid kit is a good idea, they shouldn't be used routinely.