New with chicks Questions!

[sonew123]

pss my name is Natalie too!! hello from upstate New York!

 

[Ckn woman]

Well hello natalie in NY! I am in Tennessee!

 

[the_great_snag]

Preening is a very normal behavior for birds. It's how they keep their feathers clean and neat. As long as they are not scratching a LOT or pulling their feathers out excessively it's completely normal.

They will also wallow in anything dusty they can find. All birds love a good dust bath. It is a good idea though to keep feeders and waterers as high as you can. I actually used to put my waterer on a pedestal with a ramp leading up to it so they would get less litter in it.

Chickens by nature will scratch at the ground as part of their normal browsing/feeding behavior, and they tend to kick stuff around, thus the higher feeders and waterers become very necessary.

I always bedded on pine shavings which I simply buried under fresh shavings as they became soiled. In fact, when I would feed them in the morning, I also would dump the leftover remnants in my feeders on the bedding and refill them with fresh food. This allows them to browse around the brooder and "find" food like a chicken would naturally.

Poos will also vary as other posters have said. I would not worry about it unless it goes on for a while.

Also, as other posters have said, use of antibiotics without cause is very bad. I would never medicate a healthy bird as it only causes them to develop resistance to antibiotics that they may need later in life if they actually do get sick.

Just my $.02 Enjoy your chicks and try not to worry so much. They are actually a lot tougher than people give them credit for. They also usually know what they need or like better than we do. lol

 

[the_great_snag]

Also... medicated feed is aimed more at commercial use where producers have a huge flock being raised under controlled conditions. It is not really anything a hobby poultry fancier should need.

The important thing is to try to avoid cross-contamination with any other birds you may own, and to keep them away from the rest of your flock for at least 4 weeks as a sort of "quarantine" measure.

Simple "biosecurity" measures such as washing your hands between different groups of birds is a better plan.

 

[RendonRoo]

Don't forget that chickens evolved from dinasours(so they tell me) and they have been surviving without us or any other help for years. I was a worry wart with my first batch and over did everything. I'm on my second bunch of chicks now and wondering what all the fuss was with my first. These things mainly need food water and warmth(to make up for not having a mom). Other than a little help with pasty butt let them be chickens and enjoy them. Good Luck and Welcome to BYC and the chicken world.

 

[mrsgibber]

Quote:
I can't agree more, the importance of good biosecurity should not be underrated. I went through a nasty episode of ILT with my first pullets until I returned them to the farm after four days. I'm still disinfecting my coop every weekend. Can't put my new babies out there until I am sure it'll be safe. It was a very hard, but very important lesson I'm glad I learned early so I can protect my new babies.