Preparing for delivery of 5 chicks

tudiechick

Hatching
5 Years
Oct 1, 2014
9
0
7
I will be the owner of 5 chicks next week, this is very new to me. I plan on keeping them in my garage until fully feathered. Can someone tell me the best way to contain them (cardboard box/purchased brooder kit) and what else I will need besides brooder lamp and bedding?!? Thank you!!!
 
WELCOME TO BYC!!

Ooh how egg-citing!! New chicks!

A cardboard box or brooder kit will work for the first few weeks. Chicks grow fast though and if the brooder isn't big then be prepared to move them to bigger housing as they grow. I used a C&C cage for my chicks this year. They were able to stay in in for 10 weeks! It worked great!



What kind of bedding will you be using? You have to remember that the first few days chicks don't know what is food and what isn't. If you are going to be using sand, stop here. That is bad for baby chicks. Shavings will be fine to use after their first week. What I do is when they are fist starting out, put rubber shelf liner over paper towels down. This insures that they aren't eating their bedding and that they aren't slipping. Or I use shredded paper which is too big for them to eat. After their first week I transfer them to shavings. Make sure they always have grit in case they are eating their bedding.

You should put some toys in the brooder too. Roosts, mirrors, dirt and cardboard tunnels are the biggest hits. Chicks like to look at their reflection. They must have things to roost on as this is natural. The dirt is also a necessity since they will need to learn how to dirt bathe. The cardboard tunnels are for fun.

Make sure they always have food and water available. You can start taking them outside when they are 3-6 weeks old. Make sure they are in a crate or cage or that you are always with them. They are ready to live outside when they are either fully feathered or at week 14.

Here are some good links to check out too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ks-the-first-60-days-of-raising-baby-chickens
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-socialize-baby-chickens
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/11/raising-baby-chicks
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/feeding-at-different-ages

Best of luck!
 
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You'll love it here!
 
Thank you for all of your advice. I had planned on using shavings initially but I like the shelf paper/paper towel idea better for the first week. Guess I need to get on the ball! Thank you again!
 
Good luck! My first chicks just hatched and I am using a Rubbermaid type container. I will have to move them in a couple of weeks, but it's working well so far. Can't wait to see pics!!!:)
 
That was my initial plan...I was going to buy 2 large Rubbermaid totes so I could just rotate them to fresh bedding each time...please let me know how this works out for you..can u send photos? Thank you for your response!
 
Welcome to BYC and congrats on getting your 1st chicks!

One other thing I would add to the excellent advice already given...have a top for the brooder no matter which kind you go with. We didn't know to do that with our 1st set of chicks and were totally caught off guard when one of them flew up and out. If I remember correctly, she was about 3-4 weeks old but I've read here that sometimes they will do that even younger. We ended up using a screen and it worked well, we could see in & they got the ventilation needed.

Have fun and let us know how things go!
 
Welcome to BYC and congrats on getting your 1st chicks!

One other thing I would add to the excellent advice already given...have a top for the brooder no matter which kind you go with. We didn't know to do that with our 1st set of chicks and were totally caught off guard when one of them flew up and out. If I remember correctly, she was about 3-4 weeks old but I've read here that sometimes they will do that even younger. We ended up using a screen and it worked well, we could see in & they got the ventilation needed.

Have fun and let us know how things go!



I'm from north fl too! Near tally! Here is the best pic I have right now. I also have a screen that goes over the top. It's one of the ones that you get at the hardware store that fits into half open windows. It fits perfectly on this box and can be adjusted. I can get a better pic later. I'm not at home now though.
700
 
Awwwww, so sweet! Thanks for sharing, I'll look forward to more if you get a chance! Thank you
 

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