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In my opinion, it depends if you want pets or backyard egg layers.
If you just want egg layers and aren't planning to spend much time with the birds after they're moved to the tractor, don't change what you are doing. If you want pets, an animal you wouldn't be afraid to have near your family members, you're going to have to treat them like pets...
We have 4 Wyandotte pullets in our flock, 1 White, 1 Columbian, 1 Silver Laced and 1 Golden Laced. They are 9 months old and some of the gentlest birds in our flock. Our flock has been raised as pets, held and petted since we got them as day-old chicks. They follow us around the farm yard and eat treats out of our hands. If we sit on the barn stool, they jump on our laps and chat and sometimes fall asleep. They talk to us when we call them by name and sometimes come when they are called.
They are excellent egg layers and none of them ever peck when you remove an egg from under them. The Gold and Silver Laced lay 5-6 eggs a week and the White and Columbian lay 4-5 a week.
I found that if you are calm with your chicks, they'll be calm too. Try handling each chick at least half an hour a day. Hold it. Pet it. Talk to it. Give each a little bit of feed from your hand. Just like any animal, a chick can tell if you are stressed or not happy about being near it.
If all you are doing is picking up a bird and moving it to another box, they won't get used to you. They will associate you with stress. Once you pick them up, do a quick check for pasty butt, see if their eyes are clear and shiny, and that they have no injuries. Check under their wings and around their vent area for bugs. You shouldn't have too many problems at this age. But if you start looking at them when they are this young, it will be much easier when they are full grown because they will be used to you looking. This will be invaluable if any of them gets sick or injured. They won't struggle as much.
I saw the example of this when a friend's bird got injured. She didn't spend much time with her chicks and now they are about a year old. She had to treat the injured bird but it was so panicked about being held, she asked me to hold it still so she could see where it was injured and how badly. I have never had any problems picking or holding my birds for any reason.
Yes, chicks eat, drink, sleep, peep and poop. That's what they do. You could compare a baby chick to a newborn child (except you probably diapered the baby).
At 3 weeks, it is normal for your chicks to start exploring their world and testing their wings. If you don't have tall walls around the brooder area, they will probably make it over the walls. They have a lot of exploring and developing to do before they start laying eggs at about 5 months of age.
As already mentioned, as the chicks grow, you should raise their waterers and feeders to be as high as their backs. This will help keep most scratchings out. Or at least until one of them starts to dust bathe right next to the waterer.
If you haven't already seen a chick dust bathe, it can be pretty scary. The chick writhes around in the bedding trying to completely cover the body and after done to it's satisfaction, will lie still for a while in a strange position(you might think it's dead). I liken it to a spa treatment, no one wants to move after a great massage.
Then all of a sudden the chick pops up and shakes itself off, bedding goes flying all over, and the chick is off to some new adventure. If you have room in your brooder area, you can add a small cardboard box with sand in it for your birds to use to dust bathe. If you don't provide one, the birds will make their own.
Another tip for keeping the chicks off the top of the waterer is to make a cone out of heavy-duty cardboard or piece of clean heavy-duty plastic (like a milk or bleach bottle). Attach that to cover the flat top of the waterer.
If you haven't already, you can put some bricks, blocks of wood and some low roosts in the brooder area for your chicks. It really is cute to see them tucked in at night on their roosts.
We didn't give our flock any treats except mashed hard cooked eggs until they were 4 weeks old. Then we started giving them chopped up or grated fruits and veggies occasionally. The treats should never make up the majority of their feed, so that the protein level they get from the feed isn't lowered too much. Once you start giving anything other than their starter/grower feed, you need to supply grit too.
We used a 6' kiddie pool for the brooder and used pine shavings for the bedding. I used a kitty litter scooper (not the cat's) to pick out the poop every night. I did this when I made sure the waterers and feeders were cleaned and filled. We started with 25 chicks and we didn't notice any smell. We kept them in our laundry/mud room and it has large patio doors for ventilation. What we really noticed after we moved the chicks from our laundry/mud room to the barn was the dust they left behind.
Our birds are locked up in the hen house at night, but forage our fenced 2 acres from sun up to sun down during the day. They are fun to watch and you will learn each by their personalities.
It's not too late to start spending more time with them and soon you should notice a difference in their behavior towards you.
Backyard chicken raising really is fun and enjoyable. It is a wonderful way to get rid of stress at the end of a long day at work. Please keep us updated on how you are doing.
Good luck!
regards,
keljonma
In my opinion, it depends if you want pets or backyard egg layers.
If you just want egg layers and aren't planning to spend much time with the birds after they're moved to the tractor, don't change what you are doing. If you want pets, an animal you wouldn't be afraid to have near your family members, you're going to have to treat them like pets...
We have 4 Wyandotte pullets in our flock, 1 White, 1 Columbian, 1 Silver Laced and 1 Golden Laced. They are 9 months old and some of the gentlest birds in our flock. Our flock has been raised as pets, held and petted since we got them as day-old chicks. They follow us around the farm yard and eat treats out of our hands. If we sit on the barn stool, they jump on our laps and chat and sometimes fall asleep. They talk to us when we call them by name and sometimes come when they are called.
They are excellent egg layers and none of them ever peck when you remove an egg from under them. The Gold and Silver Laced lay 5-6 eggs a week and the White and Columbian lay 4-5 a week.
I found that if you are calm with your chicks, they'll be calm too. Try handling each chick at least half an hour a day. Hold it. Pet it. Talk to it. Give each a little bit of feed from your hand. Just like any animal, a chick can tell if you are stressed or not happy about being near it.
If all you are doing is picking up a bird and moving it to another box, they won't get used to you. They will associate you with stress. Once you pick them up, do a quick check for pasty butt, see if their eyes are clear and shiny, and that they have no injuries. Check under their wings and around their vent area for bugs. You shouldn't have too many problems at this age. But if you start looking at them when they are this young, it will be much easier when they are full grown because they will be used to you looking. This will be invaluable if any of them gets sick or injured. They won't struggle as much.
I saw the example of this when a friend's bird got injured. She didn't spend much time with her chicks and now they are about a year old. She had to treat the injured bird but it was so panicked about being held, she asked me to hold it still so she could see where it was injured and how badly. I have never had any problems picking or holding my birds for any reason.
Yes, chicks eat, drink, sleep, peep and poop. That's what they do. You could compare a baby chick to a newborn child (except you probably diapered the baby).
As already mentioned, as the chicks grow, you should raise their waterers and feeders to be as high as their backs. This will help keep most scratchings out. Or at least until one of them starts to dust bathe right next to the waterer.
If you haven't already seen a chick dust bathe, it can be pretty scary. The chick writhes around in the bedding trying to completely cover the body and after done to it's satisfaction, will lie still for a while in a strange position(you might think it's dead). I liken it to a spa treatment, no one wants to move after a great massage.
Another tip for keeping the chicks off the top of the waterer is to make a cone out of heavy-duty cardboard or piece of clean heavy-duty plastic (like a milk or bleach bottle). Attach that to cover the flat top of the waterer.
If you haven't already, you can put some bricks, blocks of wood and some low roosts in the brooder area for your chicks. It really is cute to see them tucked in at night on their roosts.
We didn't give our flock any treats except mashed hard cooked eggs until they were 4 weeks old. Then we started giving them chopped up or grated fruits and veggies occasionally. The treats should never make up the majority of their feed, so that the protein level they get from the feed isn't lowered too much. Once you start giving anything other than their starter/grower feed, you need to supply grit too.
We used a 6' kiddie pool for the brooder and used pine shavings for the bedding. I used a kitty litter scooper (not the cat's) to pick out the poop every night. I did this when I made sure the waterers and feeders were cleaned and filled. We started with 25 chicks and we didn't notice any smell. We kept them in our laundry/mud room and it has large patio doors for ventilation. What we really noticed after we moved the chicks from our laundry/mud room to the barn was the dust they left behind.
Our birds are locked up in the hen house at night, but forage our fenced 2 acres from sun up to sun down during the day. They are fun to watch and you will learn each by their personalities.
It's not too late to start spending more time with them and soon you should notice a difference in their behavior towards you.
Backyard chicken raising really is fun and enjoyable. It is a wonderful way to get rid of stress at the end of a long day at work. Please keep us updated on how you are doing.
Good luck!
regards,
keljonma
and I could pick them up all the time.
