Separating Baby Chick & Hen

[Stewarts]

Let your hen raise her baby, just check on them often and keep a sharp eye on things if you have them in the coop with your other birds so the others don't molest the chick and to make sure that mama hen is protecting the chick. I'd get some SuperBoost if I were you and if there is a problem, the chick starts to ail, you can give SuperBoost in its water.

Welcome to the site - we were all New at this at one time so don't worry if you have a questions, just ask them.

The more people we have asking questions and giving answers that help, the better this site is so use it to advantage.

 

[suzroemer]

Thank you all for your advice it has been most helpful. I guess Im too sensitive and get the wrong idea. Again thank you form guiding me with my first baby chick

 

[Judy]

I was just reading that about 80% of the normal signals of "in person" communication are lost online, because you don't have the tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, etc. to help pass the correct message. Some of us have more "short" ways of talking, too, incliding me. It's easy for misunderstandings to happen online, and we probably all need to think twice about how we say things. I struggle with it every day.

 

[Cynthia12]

I was just reading that about 80% of the normal signals of "in person" communication are lost online, because you don't have the tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, etc. to help pass the correct message. Some of us have more "short" ways of talking, too, incliding me. It's easy for misunderstandings to happen online, and we probably all need to think twice about how we say things. I struggle with it every day.

Well, I'm thinking you put that there just fine. Great way to explain how typing out our words can be "heard" differently.

 

[Nonnie195]

My sweet Rudy is sitting on five eggs and are due to hatch sometime this weekend. She is separated from the others (there is a small room with a chickenwire door). My question is about feeding them. Do you feed the hen and the chicks the same thing?

 

[chippysmom327]

My sweet Rudy is sitting on five eggs and are due to hatch sometime this weekend. She is separated from the others (there is a small room with a chickenwire door). My question is about feeding them. Do you feed the hen and the chicks the same thing?

Yes. Feed them unmedicated chick starter. Good luck

 

[Nonnie195]

Why unmedicated? I have been reading that the medicated won't hurt the hen.

 

[chippysmom327]

"Feed them all non-medicated chick starter feed. The mother hen isn't laying eggs, so she doesn't need the additional calcium in layer feed and the calcium can damage chicks' kidneys if they are fed layer feed before they start laying. And it's as simple as that."

That's from a chicken blog I follow. The woman just wrote a chicken book and is SUPER knowledgeable about poultry/waterfowl.

I'll try to find some more info...

 

[Nonnie195]

Don't they need some "protection" from getting the disease? Doesn't the medicated give them a small dose so that they are able to begin building immunity?

 

[Ridgerunner]

The protection they need is to build immunity. You are right about that.

The only thing the medicated fed does is help keep the numbers of the protozoa that causes Coccidiosis down. It is not an antibiotic. It does not affect anything other than Coccidiosis. It does not kill any probiotics they have in their system. This assumes the medicine in the medicated feed is Amprolium, which it almost certainly is. You can check on the label to make sure.

The Amprolium does not contain the bugs that cause Coccidiosis. Those live in the ground. They thrive in warm wet dirt like the gulf south and are less likely to be in colder drier climates like Denver, but they can be anywhere, especially in a warm brooder, especially if it is wet. The problem is not caused by the bugs being present in the chicken’s guts. The problem is caused when the numbers of that bug get out of hand. It takes about three weeks of exposure for the chicks to develop immunity.

When there are problems the normal cause is the chick gets exposed to the bug, the chick poops and the bug goes through a life cycle stage in the wet poop. The chicks then eats those bugs and the numbers build up to a dangerous level. A huge way to reduce that exposure is to keep the brooder dry.

Another thing that commonly happens is that someone will feed chicks the medicated feed while they are in the brooder but have never been exposed to the Coccidiosis bug. When the chicks hit the ground and are exposed, they stop feeding the medicated feed. They have never built up an immunity so they get sick, especially if the ground is wet. Then they complain about the medicated feed not working.

The way I manage the problem is on Day 2 or 3 in the brooder I take dirt from the adult chickens’ run and feed that to the chicks, then repeat every 4 to 5 days while keeping the brooder dry. That way the chicks get grit, they get any probiotics the adults may have, and they are exposed to Coccidiosis so they can start building the immunity they need.

I don’t use medicated feed. I haven’t had to. There is nothing wrong with using medicated feed. It won’t hurt them. All it does is help keep the numbers of that bug down, but it still allows then to develop immunity as long as they have a three week exposure. You can achieve that by allowing the poop in the brooder to be slightly damp so that bug can go through that stage in its life cycle or just provide new dirt every few days.

The medicated, as long as it is Amprolium, will not hurt the hen either. There is some debate as to whether the eggs are safe to eat if the hen is on the dosage of Amprolium in medicated feed. The official government position is that there is no required withdrawal period. If the hen is not laying that is not an issue.