New - with chicks on the way

[squigleyc]

Hello, I'm new here - my name is Kate.

I just ordered 25 baby chicks - layers.

They will ship to me in about two weeks, I need to know what I must buy before the come.

Thank you.

 

[squigleyc]

now i am confused again. do i need to have a boy chicken to get eggs. i think i ordered all girls

 

[Katy]

You don't need a rooster for your hens to lay eggs.

 

[twigg]

Read the brooder thread aove this post.

You will need food (chick starter) and a water supply.

You will need to keep them warm ... 95F for the first week, reducing thereafter. They will need a *brooder* Go look at the pics, and a heatlamp will keep them warm.

 

[squigleyc]

O good. cause i only got the girl ones. my mom wont like a noisy boy in the mornings

 

[havi]

I found this site very helpful!

http://www.mypetchicken.com/ebook.aspx

 

[Screebert]

Hi & welcome!

No, even if they are all hens, they will still lay eggs. Their eggs won't hatch into chicks, though.

But let me predict that you will get at least 1 baby rooster (cockerel) in your order by mistake. That's because sexing chicks is a difficult task, and accuracy is maybe 80% or so. A good rooster is nice for social interaction, IMHO. A rooster adds character to the flock, I think.

 

[Dawn419]

Hi and Welcome to BYC!

Last year was my first time raising chicks. I spent from Nov. '07 until May 14th doing research, research and more research for those 6 months.

My "get-ready-for-chicks" list was:

1) 2 thermometers, one to check the temp directly under the heat lamp and one for the outer edge in the brooder. This gave me a chance to tell where/what temp the chicks were most comfortable.

2) Extra feeders/waterers. Great to have extras incase one or more chicks need to be seperated from the rest due to sickness or injury.

3) Extra brooder incase of sickness/injury or just a weak chick. shipping can be tough on them sometimes, especially if the weather is bad. Doesn't have to be fancy, cardboard boxes are ideal for this.

4) Heat lamps/bulbs...make sure to have atleast one extra/spare of each as you never know when a lamp will quit working or a bulb will blow and it never usually happens at convenient times.

5) Vitamins & electrolytes to add to their water. Helps reduce stress from shipping/illness/injury.

6) Chick feed, we use chick starter/grower made by Dumor as thats all our TSC's carry.

7) A few rolls of paper towels for the first week after the chicks come home to use on the floor of the brooder. It helps them learn how to find the food and gives them a non-slippery surface to help get their legs "working", for lack of a better term. After that, they can be raised on pine or aspen shavings for their litter.

I had the brooder "fired up" a week before the arrival of our babies. It allowed me some breathing room to get the temperature fine tuned and it was great not having to scramble at the last minute to make sure everything was just right, when the chicks did arrive.

Sorry for rambling and hope this helps you instead of scares you! I've just read one too many posts that start out "help, my chicks are here, now what?"

Dawn