Questions about raising baby chicks for the first time

[bexleyb]

Hello everyone! I am new here. What kind of feeds do you use to feed your chicks? How many 50lbs bags do 6 chicks go through until they reach 8 weeks old? What type of bedding do you use? Am sorry for all the questions just curious and need some help with knowing these kind of things.

 

[Ridgeback825]

A quality chick starter is what you want. I don't use the medicated kind as we have never had an issue. 2 bags should get you through but I would feed it longer than 8 weeks. Pine flakes are what we use, just be sure to never use cedar. Don't apologize! We were all new to this once!

 

[bexleyb]

A quality chick starter is what you want. I don't use the medicated kind as we have never had an issue. 2 bags should get you through but I would feed it longer than 8 weeks. Pine flakes are what we use, just be sure to never use cedar. Don't apologize! We were all new to this once!

Thank you so much, I appreciate the help!

 

[Isadora]

Crumbled chick starter as their first food. For bedding you have options but a lot of people use pine shavings. Some people line the brooder with just paper towels the first day or two to make the food more evident to the chicks (sometimes brand new chicks peck at the fine bedding).
You could also use straw or hay.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

My 33 chicks went through 50lbs in 2.5 wks. (Grant it thats with some lost bc they are messy)
I also always offer chick grit bc they inevitably eat their bedding.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Hi and welcome to BYC! So glad you joined us. Looking forward to hearing the stories of your chicks and seeing photos!
There are never too many questions. Ask away. There are LOTS and lots of folks here who have years of experience and are eager to help.

The kind of feed and how much they eat is going to depend on the breed. Bantams will eat very little. Broilers will eat like elephants. Most other chickens are somewhere in the middle. So...what kind of chicks do you have, and how old are they now?

I use a chick starter feed from my local livestock feed store, but it's available at any farm store, Tractor Supply, or similar outlets. They need "chick starter" by any brand name to be sure they're getting the proper balance of nutrients and minerals. (If you have broilers, you'll need something much higher in protein, like a game bird starter/grower feed.)

I found this resource on the Wayback Machine - The Poultry Management Reference Manual, by Pennsylvania State University:
http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/agrs38.pdf
Scroll down to about page 5 or 6 for the feed tables.

If your chicks are a standard size breed, all six of them will probably consume about 30-50 pounds of feed total by the time they are 8 weeks old. If they are broilers, count on at least 60-80 pounds of feed.

For bedding, I don't use anything until they are 2-3 days old and I'm certain they are eating and drinking well. They just have a liner of paper towels. Then I use a thin layer of pine wood chips (med or large flake), but I also give them a dish of chick grit in case they accidentally consume some chips. Usually they won't. Some people use hay or straw instead.

Tip: Put the feeder and waterer up on a scrap of wood or something, to raise them up above the bedding. Otherwise they'll scratch around and fill both with wood chips. I use a couple of small tote lids in my brooder.

 

[bexleyb]

Thank you

Crumbled chick starter as their first food. For bedding you have options but a lot of people use pine shavings. Some people line the brooder with just paper towels the first day or two to make the food more evident to the chicks (sometimes brand new chicks peck at the fine bedding).
You could also use straw or hay.

Thank you!

 

[bexleyb]

Hi and welcome to BYC! So glad you joined us. Looking forward to hearing the stories of your chicks and seeing photos!
There are never too many questions. Ask away. There are LOTS and lots of folks here who have years of experience and are eager to help.

The kind of feed and how much they eat is going to depend on the breed. Bantams will eat very little. Broilers will eat like elephants. Most other chickens are somewhere in the middle. So...what kind of chicks do you have, and how old are they now?

I use a chick starter feed from my local livestock feed store, but it's available at any farm store, Tractor Supply, or similar outlets. They need "chick starter" by any brand name to be sure they're getting the proper balance of nutrients and minerals. (If you have broilers, you'll need something much higher in protein, like a game bird starter/grower feed.)

I found this resource on the Wayback Machine - The Poultry Management Reference Manual, by Pennsylvania State University:
http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/agrs38.pdf
Scroll down to about page 5 or 6 for the feed tables.

If your chicks are a standard size breed, all six of them will probably consume about 30-50 pounds of feed total by the time they are 8 weeks old. If they are broilers, count on at least 60-80 pounds of feed.

For bedding, I don't use anything until they are 2-3 days old and I'm certain they are eating and drinking well. They just have a liner of paper towels. Then I use a thin layer of pine wood chips (med or large flake), but I also give them a dish of chick grit in case they accidentally consume some chips. Usually they won't. Some people use hay or straw instead.

Tip: Put the feeder and waterer up on a scrap of wood or something, to raise them up above the bedding. Otherwise they'll scratch around and fill both with wood chips. I use a couple of small tote lids in my brooder.

Thank you for letting me know! I have 3 RIR and 3 Barred rocks. They are only a couple of days old now, I just got them at Tractor Supply.

 

[AntiqueB]

I use bed pads (wee wee pads) for the brooder. They fit in the tote I use perfectly, and make cleanup so easy. I also add pine bedding after a week or 2.

@BarnyardChaos has a great point about raising the feeder and waterer. They will not only scratch bedding into it, they'll aslo somehow manage to poop in it. I keep it on the floor of the brooder until they're big enough to reach higher, though.

Make sure you have a warm place and a cooler one for them to get to, too.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Thank you for letting me know! I have 3 RIR and 3 Barred rocks. They are only a couple of days old now, I just got them at Tractor Supply.

I have to ask the first obligatory question, since you're new to chickens: What kind of brooder setup do you have?