New with chicks Questions!

[Ckn woman]

Ok-- I am new to the chick biz and I have had my babies for 5 days. I am constantly watching them and cleaning out their Brooder. I read earlier that it is normal for them to nap on and off during the day and pick their feathers. I often worry about body mites because they are picking at themselves and I worry if I keep their brooder too clean sometimes. I change it like 3-4 times a day. The peeps are also getting shavings in their water and then scratching it until it soaks thier shavings so then I have to clean again. I am giving them Duramycin-10 in their water but I am not sure why. I was told at the farm store I needed it and they didn't have mediacted food just Dumor starter. Everyone that has seen them says I can't believe you still have all 10 of them. They are also still sleeping up next to each other and I think the temp should be good for them. I am just a worry wart about this whole process. I just want to make sure I succed at this new found hobby of mine. Oh btw-- they are having loose poops still (some). Am I doing what is right or am I worring too much? any body else out there with the same thoughts???

Natalie:/

 

[ChickBond 007]

Hi Natalie,
I'm new to chickens too but wanted to welcome you to BYC. Keep reading, you'll learn so much here.
My new chicks are constantly kicking shavings into their water too. It will help if you raise the waterer on a piece of 2x4 board, this will not eliminate the shavings but lessen the amount of them in the waterer.
I'm cleaning once daily. That seems to be enough.
I'm not feeding medicated feed or adding medication to water, but someone smarter than I on this board will jump in and give advice on that. My chicks were vaccinated for Mareks and Cocci at the hatchery at one day old so I don't have to worry about that.

 

[sonew123]

well..my chicks are 4 days old and I clean their brooder twice a day-I just liek to see it clean and they dont peck at their poo to eat it-which leads to diseases-mine are not on medications nor were they vaccinated-I saw no need to do so until I see a problem with them or my existing small flock of 4-10 month olds...

 

[chickenfever]

You probably don't need to clean the brooder so much, but will not harm them by doing so. I don't think they would have mites this young unless they were exposed to situations they shouldn't have been around at such a young age.
I start my chicks out by using paper towels or chucks pads. This eliminates pine shavings in their food and water. I don't use pine shavings until they are 2-3 weeks old and won't try to eat them. By then you can also raise the water and food up out of the shavings and they can still reach them.
My current batch of chicks I am not using medicated feed or water for. It's a personal choice. I may switch to medicated starter when they go outside.

 

[Judy]

You're worrying too much!

They will groom their feathers regularly - not really picking, but cleaning. If there are mites you will see feather loss and the mites themselves.

They should be big enough to set the feeder and waterer up on a brick or 2X4 scrap or something. They will kick fewer shavings in that way. Then you can raise it again in another week or two. If they can reach, it's not too high. Might help a little to put a paper plate or paper towel or something underneath, too. I have one of those red plastic feeders, and screwed it to a 2X4 scrap around that age.

They will sleep like that for a while. And the poops will vary for a while. OK if not repeatedly grossly bloody.

You're on your own on the antibiotic; people have various opinions; you will have to decide for yourself. I used medicated feed, but it is not medicated with Duramycin.

 

[Judy]

Yeah, I used paper towels at first, too, but only for 3 or 4 days.

I had a huge cardboard box and never cleaned it after I switched to pine shavings. Just added more pine shavings when it got messy. They were in the brooder for 3 weeks.

There are about as many ways of doing this as their are chicken people. Whatever you are comfortable with.

If your chicks were vaccinated for cocci, by the way, you should not use medicated feed, as they work against each other. If you bought them at a feed store, they probably were not.

 

[Ckn woman]

I am not sure if they were vaccinated or not. I got them at a TSC and a man that works there raises ckns and made sure they ordered the Duramycin-10 for there water. I will definatley try to raise the waterer up so they won"t scratch it all out and soak the shavings but they seem happy. I am in a new adventure and want everything right. You know?
Thanks for all the answers ya'll are great!
Natalie

 

[lisahaschickens]

My advice is to stop the duramyic. It is an antibiotic and there is no reason in the world to give it to them unless they have a bacterial infection and you know that for a fact. People love to overuse antibiotics and feed stores have been told to advise it, but it is ill-advised. This will only make them and any minor amounts of bacteria they may process more resistant to antibiotics should they ever actually need them down the road. It will also kill the good bacteria that lives in their guts and helps them to digest foods and absorb nutrients. Medicated starter normally contains a specific coccidiostat, not a broadspectrum antibiotic. I would take them off it and they will be fine.

As for the loose poops, that is normal for about a week after you get them and is a result of stress from being shipped and moved around at such a young age. Just be sure to watch for pasting up and to clean of any bottoms with built-up poop on them, otherwise they could get blocked up. The loose dropping should resolve themselves very soon for you. New foods at a very young age can lead to further loose droppings, though, so you may want to keep their diet fairly simple until it's cleared up. If you decide to stop the antibiotics, I would suggest a little treat of plain yogurt as that will help replenish their good digestive bacteria that they need.

Good luck with them! It sounds like you are doing just fine!

 

[mylilchix]

Enjoy your new adventure!! They are such a blessing. We've added 32 babies to our family in the last month or so! They love to cuddle. My 4 and 5 weekers still do this every night. What feed are you giving your babies?

Poo will vary, and they do have cecal poos already. This happens when their digestive tract cleans itself out and you'll get runny brown poo. As long as no one is pastey they should be warm enough.

I change our bedding once a week, unless they're on paper towel then I change it a couple of times a day.

BYC is an awesome resource so ask as many questions as you need, you'll uasually get a lot of helpful advice!

Sonja
P.S. build a bigger coop thanyou think you'll need if you can. We started with 14 and now we're up to 46 with eggs in the bator!!

 

[Ckn woman]

I use Dumor starter feed from TSC. I had some pasting up on two of them about the 3rd day and I cleaned them and put a little baby oil on thier booties. the poo is brown runny, so I guess there is not much difference in chicks and human babies for they do this for several days after they are born. I did go ahead and raise there feeder and waterer up.They seem to like that, its something new in there brooder. I never realized how curious they are. I am feeling a little better about this now. Ya'll have definately helped me not to worry so much. As far as the antibiotics, I don't guess they were vaccinated and I read online to feed medicated starter food if they were not, but I did not know this Duramycin-10 was antibiotics. I thought it was a substiute to medicated feed.

Natalie