Posts are scaring me!

[tulie13]

Wow - I'm getting my first shipment of baby chicks on March 11 - I have never done this before and now I'm getting worried...

I ordered some of the vitamin/electrolyte stuff, but what's all this about boots?

I'm getting 45 of the little guys (30 for me, 12 for a friend, and 3 for my sister) and I'll receive them all at my house first. So it is up to ME to keep them all alive! I have never done this before, I know about the light, the temperature, and giving them the starter electrolyte stuff. I understand that they are baby chicks and will have just been shipped by mail, and I may have casualties.

But what's this about boots? I can surmise that they are for straightening out their feet if they are curling too much, but how to make them? Can you buy them? Are they REALLY necessary for the chick or is this just a cosmetic thing for show birds?

What else do I need to know for my first batch of babies? HELP!

 

[speckledhen]

Sometimes, babies hatch with foot issues. Some decide to try to train them to hold out straight. Some cull the chick. Just your choice which you do. Sometimes incubation issues cause that and sometimes it's genetic, which is why some cull the chick. Sort of depends on how bad it is. The boot is usually a flat piece of cardboard that the toes are taped to in a straight-out position.

 

[Guitartists]

READ READ READ!

You have plenty of time to stockpile much information on raising chicks and you will find everything you ever needed to know here at the BYC

It's not as hard as it sounds, but you might run into some special circumstances... you can never know for sure until it happens. Just use common sense and follow the guidelines that you'll find posted around the forum and you'll be fine. If you run into any problems... use the search to see if you can troubleshoot it yourself and if you can't find what you;re looking for, don;t be afraid to ask your fellow BYCers

and enjoy those little fuzzybutts when they arrive!

 

[tulie13]

Thanks my new buddies!

Quick question - do they need the bedding (pine shavings) or would they be OK on newspaper? I was thinking about newspaper and then just changing it every day...

And if they REALLY need bedding, is pine shaving best? What about hay?

I'm going to be putting the guys in my bathtub in the house until my friend can come get her 12, but I'll raise my 30 and my sister's 3 until they are ready to go outside. But we can also run an extension cord out to our final built coop, and after 2-3 weeks or so, they COULD stay out there, right? With a light in the corner of the roost area (OSB walls, shouldn't be too drafty) and some hay on the floor? NOTE: I am in NW Florida, so by the beginning of April even a light frost would be VERY unusual but it could be 70 degrees in the daytime, you just never know around here...

I don't think I can keep 33 in my bathtub for more than a couple of weeks, if they are growing like I hope they will!

 

[Guitartists]

The problem with any flat slippery surface that they cannot grip is that they can slip and fall and injure their legs and end up with Spraddle leg. You're best off using pine shavings or some folks use paper towels for a few days on top of the shavings for easier cleanup.... but once they start running around they're gonna want to scratch around etc.

Don't use CEDAR... the oil in the wood can be toxic to birds and small animals..especially little chicks.

As to when they can be in the coop... you won't want to put them out until they are feathered in well or they could get sick from drafts etc. But, that all depends too on your location, weather, coop etc. You'll just have to read all you can from what other people have posted and make the best informed decision for your own situation.

 

[Jenski]

For my new-hatched chicks I put a layer of Aspen shavings (could use pine) in the brooder, then I placed several layers of white paper towels down. The first few days the chicks are very unsteady on their feet, and I felt the p-towels gave them better footing to prevent leg issues. As the towels get soiled I just take them up, layer by layer. I will probably get down to the shavings around day 4, and I will see how their footing is. If they are walking steadily I will leave them on shavings.

Just my two cents. Others may have other ways of doing this. Good luck!

 

[ilovechickens]

I always look forward to March when I receive my chicks, I get mine from Mc Murray Hatchery and I have had no problems. I also have 25 coming on March 9th. I have everything ready a couple of days before because the post office usually calls me on Sunday to see if I want to pick them up at the main post office or wait until Monday to go to my local post office, of course I get them ASAP, I put rocks in their waterer so that they don't drown, I use the blue stuff in the water also. I use a large tote (kind of like the ones that fit under a bed) and I use pine shavings with paper towels also(that also keeps the water from getting full of shavings). I don't use a red heat light, I use the clear ones and keep checking on them to make sure that it is not to hot, or cold. After they grow out of the tote, they head to the heated garage, where they go to a bigger box, they stay there until they can survive outside in their coop. They are not to smart, I have to put them in at night because they don't have enough sense to go in. I also keep a heat lamp in their just in case I need to keep it warn considering that I live in West Central Wisconsin. There are a couple of really good books to read, Story's on Raising Chickens, and Hobby Farm by Sue Weaver on Raising Chickens. Good Luck and enjoy,

 

[chickiebaby]

don't worry; you'll learn as you go. Some of us started out knowing stuff, from grandparents or childhood farm time. Others, like me, knew nothing. I know slightly more than nothing now. But chickens are hardy and brave little survivors, and you'll get lots of great advice here from smart people. Enjoy!

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
I would skip the bathtub altogether.. there is no way ou can stand to have that many chicks in the house for that long..

You say you have a coop.. run your electricity to your coop and set up a brooder in the coop.. then when they get bigger , you just "grow" with them to the next stage of developement.

I am in wisconsin also, and we wish we had your problems of "70 degree days" ..

I have brooded chicks outside in a brooder when it was 10 degrees and a lot of snow on the ground..

believe me, you will not be able to handle the stink of more than 10 chicks after they are 3 days old..

 

[Lesa]

Don't worry!! Last spring I wanted 12 chickens- I had spent many months reading up on chickens and of this forum. So, I ordered the minimum from McMurray. I was completely expecting them to drop like flies, from what I had been reading. I did not lose one chick! So- now I have 24 chickens! You can do it-and if you have a problem there are tons on experts on here that can help! Enjoy!