Questions about my baby chicks

[mmwinget]

Hi everyone! I have several questions regarding my baby chicks. First of all, I had a sick one that the others pecked. It was weak, only has one open eye and no interest in the food/water. It's about 1 1/2 old now and I think I have it back to health. It's running around, eating, etc. I seperated it last week from the other 3 chicks because they were pecking it. I really want/ need them to live together-- Does anyone have any tips for reintroducing the chick to the bunch? Any tips for making them get along? What should expect?

Also- I am new at chicks, so please bear with me.

How long should I keep them in their brooder with the light, etc? When can they released outside into their chicken coop and home/play area?

Lastly, any signs so that I will no if I have a rooster in the bunch?? I would love it know early on. I want these chicks to lay eggs for my family to eat, any things I should/should not do to make for better eggs?

I am loving having the chickens and learning so much from this forum! Thanks everyone!

Blessings!

 

[Andi]

First off, welcome! I'm glad you found us!

Once the picked on one looks good and healthy you should be able to just put it back in with the others. At night time might be a bit less stressful, or when you refill the feeders so there's a distraction.

As far as how to know when they are ready to go outside, its when they can handle temps without a light for heat. At the point where you notice the chicks avoiding the light, slowly increase the height of the light fixture so its not so hot. You've gone too high when the chicks huddle together for warmth. At some point you can remove the light at night time. The chicks will naturally huddle together for warmth. For me, I then would bring them outside during the day so they could get used to it and bring them in at night for a few nights. It was more worry-warting than anything, and probably not necessary.

Eventually as the chicks are becoming teenagers you'll start to notice some of the chicks are more aggressive than the others. Sometimes that can be a red flag that you have a roo, but not always. You'll eventually, if any are roos, hear strange noises coming from the pen/coop that make you go "huh?" and when you discover its a roo trying to crow you'll crack up, because its the funniest sounding thing. Don't worry about it. It'll happen when it happens. You don't have to worry about missing it. They will let you know. You should think about what you're going to do with any roos. They are difficult to get rid of and often, as hard as it is, end up as food for you or someone else. It bugged me a bit until I realized that if I had the roos go live somewhere that there were other roos that they would be at the bottom of the pecking order an might be killed by the head rooster.

About good eggs. You have a long time to wait until you need to worry about eggs. There's lots of reading on here for you in the mean time. Personally, I don't use medicated feed. That's important to me because some of the eggs go to my mom who thought she was sensitive to eggs but discovered it was the crap fed to chicken in commercial settings that she was sensitive to. You'll have to decide what's right in your situation. Other than that, there's not a lot to diet that's going to make a huge difference, as a small scale chicken owner. Plenty of greens make the yolks a darker yellow, which is pretty.

Enjoy your chicks and all the learning and experiences ahead of you! Use the search feature towards the top of the page. You'll be amazed at all the things already discussed!

 

[lemurchaser]

Chicks are pretty accepting of new members as long as they are healthy. I would just put it back in and be around to make sure everything goes okay. Maybe do it right after a cleaning and when there is something new in there (toss in a handful of weeds or a couple bugs) and they'll be too busy to notice there is an extra friend.

They need the heat lamp and access to 95 degrees for 6 weeks. You can decrease the temp by 5 degrees per week, but I never do, the chicks just self regulate. Mine go out into the baby coop and run (no adult chickens out there) at 5-10 days old, with a heat lamp, and they do great. They do need grit when they go out though.

 

[KingSpeck]

Anytime I add new chicks I do it first thing at night. That way they have all night to snuggle and peep to each other before morning. I haven't had any problems doing it this way. Good luck!