Tips and Tricks for those mailed in chicks

[Slingha]

There are some good people on this thread giving good advice, but I don’t do it that way. That’s something else you’ll learn on here, we all do it differently. It’s not that my way is right and everyone else is wrong, it’s just that we do things differently. I really like Cafarmgirl’s comment. Keep it simple and don’t stress.

I don’t add anything to the food or water but mine have never been stressed when they arrive. If they did look stressed I’d probably dissolve a little sugar in their first water or maybe some hummingbird syrup. Just toss it after about 12 hours and clean the waterer. You don’t want it to go sour.

I have a small piece of plywood, maybe 12” square with a raised lip around it. I scatter chick feed on that to get them started eating. Keep the regular feeder in there with it and in a couple of days they are eating out of that.

On the second or third day in the brooder I take some dirt out of the run and feed that to them. Just scatter it on that plywood. Then every 4 or 5 days, give them some more dirt. To me, this accomplished three things. It gives them grit. If all they eat is chick fed, they don’t need grit but I think it helps set up their digestive system the way it is supposed to be. Secondly, they get any probiotics the adult chickens have. Third, they are exposed to whatever the adults have as far as diseases so they can start working on flock immunities. I’m specifically thinking of Coccidiosis which lives in the ground. To keep it simple, if you feed them dirt every 4 or 5 days and keep the brooder dry, they should develop the immunity they need in less than three weeks without ever getting sick from it. But if your brooder is wet or you have a really nasty strain, it still might be a problem.

Like you said, we do things differently, but we all end up in the same place....Eggville!

That being said, why do you porentially expose your chicks to coccidiosis so early? Don't you want them to steer clear as long as possible?

 

[Shido Burrito]

I found this thread all about coccidiosis here on BYC.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coccidiosis-how-to-treat-it
It has the symptoms a little less than halfway down:
- Look dirty and unkempt
- Weak and listless
- Fluffed up not doing much
- May see pale comb and skin
- May be sick one day and drop dead the next day
- Not eating and drinking much
- Blood in poop (Some types of coccidiosis don't have bloody poop as a symptom) (do not get this confused with intestinal lining that chickens do shed that is brown/red)
- Severe infection that causes yellow foamy poop

 

[aart]

I found this thread all about coccidiosis here on BYC.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coccidiosis-how-to-treat-it
It has the symptoms a little less than halfway down:
- Look dirty and unkempt
- Weak and listless
- Fluffed up not doing much
- May see pale comb and skin
- May be sick one day and drop dead the next day
- Not eating and drinking much
- Blood in poop (Some types of coccidiosis don't have bloody poop as a symptom) (do not get this confused with intestinal lining that chickens do shed that is brown/red)
- Severe infection that causes yellow foamy poop

Hmmm..I've seen some yellow foamy poops, but birds, both adults and chicks seemed fine otherwise.

 

[subhanalah]

Mine have foamy yellowish brown poops, but if they are every 8-10 evacuations, it is a normal cecal poop. If it is VERY yellow it could possibly indicate a problem.
There are a few websites with what "normal" and "abnormal" poops look like. My chickens have what is pictured as "normal."

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like you said, we do things differently, but we all end up in the same place....Eggville!

That being said, why do you porentially expose your chicks to coccidiosis so early? Don't you want them to steer clear as long as possible?

The problem with Coccidiosis is not that they are exposed. It’s not a problem for them to have some in their guts. The problem comes in when those numbers get out of hand.

The life cycle is that the chick eats an “oocyst” that develops into the Coccidiosis bug in the chick’s guts. The bug is a parasite and lives off the host. It burrows into the intestinal walls and lays eggs. These new oocycts pass out through the chick’s digestive system to the ground. If that ground is wet, the oocysts thrive. The chick eats more of them. Eventually the numbers get out of hand. That’s when you have a problem. If the ground (or brooder) is dry they don’t thrive. The numbers generally don’t get out of hand.

If the chick is exposed to the bug for around 2 to 3 weeks, they develop immunity. It is no longer a threat to them. I want them to go through that getting immunity process while I can control the brooder. If they have never been exposed then hit the ground and get exposure during a rainy spell, they could be in trouble.

One of the first thing a broody hen does when she brings her chicks off the nest is take them to eat dirt. It’s instinctive. She starts them on that process immediately.

 

[Shido Burrito]

Ta da! Have a website with comparison poops! It shows normal, cecal poop and poops from a chicken with coccidiosis.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive.html

 

[Branch Chickens]

The other thing I'd highly suggest is keeping some Corid on hand in case of an outbreak of coccidiosis. It seems like you'll always notice symptoms when stores are closed and time is of the essence in starting treatment.

Where do you buy Corid?

 

[aart]

Mine have foamy yellowish brown poops, but if they are every 8-10 evacuations, it is a normal cecal poop. If it is VERY yellow it could possibly indicate a problem.
There are a few websites with what "normal" and "abnormal" poops look like. My chickens have what is pictured as "normal."

OK thanks...I guess have seen the foamy yellow called a cecal too..
So if the foamy yellow is constant and accompanies other symptoms like lethargy and not eating/drinking, then you need to start thinking cocci.

 

[Shido Burrito]

Where do you buy Corid?

Looks like TSC has it in stock.

 

[LindaB220]

There are some good people on this thread giving good advice, but I don’t do it that way. That’s something else you’ll learn on here, we all do it differently. It’s not that my way is right and everyone else is wrong, it’s just that we do things differently. I really like Cafarmgirl’s comment. Keep it simple and don’t stress.

I don’t add anything to the food or water but mine have never been stressed when they arrive. If they did look stressed I’d probably dissolve a little sugar in their first water or maybe some hummingbird syrup. Just toss it after about 12 hours and clean the waterer. You don’t want it to go sour.

I have a small piece of plywood, maybe 12” square with a raised lip around it. I scatter chick feed on that to get them started eating. Keep the regular feeder in there with it and in a couple of days they are eating out of that.

On the second or third day in the brooder I take some dirt out of the run and feed that to them. Just scatter it on that plywood. Then every 4 or 5 days, give them some more dirt. To me, this accomplished three things. It gives them grit. If all they eat is chick fed, they don’t need grit but I think it helps set up their digestive system the way it is supposed to be. Secondly, they get any probiotics the adult chickens have. Third, they are exposed to whatever the adults have as far as diseases so they can start working on flock immunities. I’m specifically thinking of Coccidiosis which lives in the ground. To keep it simple, if you feed them dirt every 4 or 5 days and keep the brooder dry, they should develop the immunity they need in less than three weeks without ever getting sick from it. But if your brooder is wet or you have a really nasty strain, it still might be a problem.

This is exactly what I'm going to do when my chicks come in March. Get their immunities going from day one.