Topic of the Week - Raising Chicks

[Coop de Grass]

I section off a safe chick pen in the run. My run is covered and the sides are protected from the wind and weather. The chicks have their heating pad cave for warmth, and even when it's freezing at night and only in the 50s(F) during the day, they're just fine and manage to warm up when they need to.

Nice set up! What do you have on the floor of your run?

 

[Hbohm74]

Hi! My chickens are now 3 months old! 2 Golden Sexlinks: Chole the Brave and Bjork, and 3 Easter Eggers: Jello, Chuckles, and Cacciatore. They were about a week old when I got them from my local feed store.

What preparations do you make before hatching/buying chicks?

Before I purchased the chicks:
-I made sure my heating element was working.
-I bought medicated chick starter feed and packets of electrolytes and probiotics, in case the chicks were looking lethargic or "under the weather." Luckily, I didn't have to use these.
-I had their brooder set up and ready to go, with paper towels on the ground for the first few days.
-I had my litter at the ready once they found the food and no longer needed paper towels.

Tell me about your brooder(s); Also, do you brood indoors or outdoors?

-I brooded my chicks outdoors in the coop they are still living in! They are my first chickens so I did not have the issue of integration. I blocked off the nesting boxes to prevent them from sleeping in there.
-For the heating element, I used the Mama Heating Pad Method. I loved it! When the chicks first arrived at their home, I tucked them under the MHP a few times until I could see they were getting adequate heat.
-For the waterer, I used vertical nipples. Chloe the Golden Sexlink figured it out within 15 minutes and soon the rest of the chicks were all pecking and drinking water droplets. Unfortunately, this watering system was very messy and I ended up just using a heavy ceramic pet water dish for them to drink from.
-For the bedding, I used sand with a little bit of Sweet PDZ. I added this after having just paper towels in the brooder/coop for a few days. I was concerned that the chicks might accidentally eat too much sand, so I inspected them twice daily, feeling their crop. A few times more than I was comfortable with, the crops felt very hard and full. I then proceeded to massage the crop, which seemed to help. In retrospect, I would not have used sand with the chicks at such a young age. It was great because it wasn't messy, but the downfalls were the risk of eating too much sand, and honestly their poop was really small when they were babies and it was kind of a pain to scoop it up with a fine mesh pooper scooper. Especially, because I felt bad kicking up dust in their home. (For the grown chickens, I love the sand in the coop!)
-I used a standard chick feeder, propped on top of a deep plastic plate covered in hardware cloth the catch the wasted food. Ironically, they really enjoyed eating the feed off the ground whenever they got a chance.

How to raise healthy, strong chicks. (Supplements/Feed/Heat management, etc)

-Only one of my chicks ever looked lethargic, and that was just in the first 48 hours. I have not given my chickens any supplements or vitamins.
-Because their bedding was sand, they were getting "grit" and could thus digest food besides chick starter. So, I gave them some curly kale, and they loved it! It's still their favorite treat.
-I eventually had to prop up the Mama Heating Pad on 2x6's in a U shape so the chicks could still fit under it when they grew to be 4-5 weeks old. They were off of heat by 6 weeks old in December in Texas.
-For healthy chicks, I believe it is essential to monitor their behavior toward your heating element. I often adjusted the MHP, whether temperature or height.

Let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer!

Edit: Whoops! I forgot to mention all the preplanning and construction that my husband and I did to prepare for getting our chicks, because it was our very first time!
-Decided how many we wanted.
-Built coop and run to accommodate this many chickens... 5!
-Decided on breeds, and what was available from the feed store.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I do not have a heating pad cave? My baby wks are in a plastic bin that you would use for storage...If you go to my page you will see pictures I posted of the baby cks a couple of days ago...my concern is that they are going to be to big and I was wondering what other do when they get larger thank you

They'll out grow that plastic bin in a couple weeks, I do the same thing, and the dust gets to me

I do have a "brooder" in my patio that they move to at that time. In the past I used a heat lamp (bin & brooder) but now solely a MHP, makes for calmer & quieter chicks. Have used shavings in the plastic bin but now use disposable potty pads, in the brooder I use shavings under the MHP, the floor is painted which cleans up easily with my plastic scrapper, sprinkle a bit of DE & PDZ daily. Once a week I remove the chicks, remove the shavings, disinfect the floor with lysol and wiped down dry, sprinkle DE & PDZ, add shaving and it's good & fresh again.
I feed fermented medicated chick starter from the start, freeze dried mealworms as training & treats when they're about 3 - 4 wks. Recently learned of the horizontal water nipples attached to a plastic container with lid, no more shavings in the water nor tipped over. Chicks need to be "older" about 2 - 3wks before they have the "strength" to work it & the container needs a hole close to the rim to prevent a vacuum.
When they're about 6wks, I put them in a mobile run during the day & back in the brooder in the evening. They even learn to walk to & from between the brooder & run. They move to the Run/Coop between 4 - 6 months, I like having them close

My work table enclosed to make my outdoor brooder...


Roosts on one side

Double door opening for easy cleaning
MHP on opposite side, start with pads but end up with shavings, older they shred the pads

Mobile run made out of PVC, easy to move around when they dig up the grass.
Big girls RC
Horizontal water nipples

Fermenting feed

 

[ErinWalter]

Thank you! We had the lamp sitting on metal mesh, but it made me really nervous so we made a stand out of PVC and used a metal chain to hang the lamp with, ignoring the big clip. I'm going to back it up with a bungee cord through a different area, so hopefully that's enough!

Could be a roo.  Regardless, he/she needs some lessons in manners.  First lesson being:  do not peck the human.  While it may be cute, when he is small, cute little chicks grow up to be big chickens, with a peck that is capable of causing some serious injury.  When he pecks you, peck him back with your finger.  Or, pick him up and then use your index finger on the other hand to push his head down below chest level.  Repeat till he willingly keeps his head down when you remove the finger.  

I would reduce the temp under the lamp until they go under it for heat.  I know that this goes a bit contrary to "heat lamp 101".  But, in a small area like this it is so very easy to overheat chicks.  You can raise the lamp, decrease to a lower watt bulb, or put a dimmer switch on it.  Many of us have ceased using heat lamps altogether, and now use a heating pad to give a much more natural and safer brooding experience.  I also don't see how you have that heat lamp secured.  IMO it should have 2 methods of securing it so it can't fall or get knocked out of position and cause a fire.  It should not be close enough to any surface that ithe surface gets hot to the touch.  


[COLOR=333333]- What preparations do you make before hatching/buying chicks?  Take the incubator for a test drive:  set it up in the room that it will be used in, put some sealed water bottles in it to approximate the liquid volume of the eggs being set.  Calibrate thermometers, and hygrometer.  Check bator for warm/cold spots and install air baffles to correct, or make note so eggs can be positioned accordingly (I have 2 home made bators.)  Read "Hatching Eggs 101" in the learning center.  I've hatched eggs for the past 4 years, and ALWAYS read this article before plugging my bator in every spring.  [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Get your brooder set up.  If using MHP, get the frame(s) set up with the heating pad(s) and the covering material.  Be sure to secure covering in such a way chicks can't get caught in the material or in any tape or other materials used.  Be sure the heating pad(s) work.  Start some FF for the chicks, if the adult flock is not already eating the same feed the chicks will be getting.   [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]- Tell me about your brooder(s)  [COLOR=333333] For the first couple of days, I brood in my basement/garage in either an appliance box (with a cover) or bring in my 3' x 6' tractor.  Shower curtain or tarp on the floor, a nice thick layer of shavings, (and paper towels for the first 2 days).  Be sure feeders and waterers are clean and ready to use.  Purchase starter crumble if not already using it for the adult flock.  When chicks are eating well, I remove the paper towels, and complete the conversion to feeding only from the chick feeders.  For the first couple of days, I supply both dry crumble and fermented feed.  Then, I remove the dry crumble and switch them to 100% FF.  [/COLOR][/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333] Also, do you brood indoors or outdoors?  They stay inside (basement or garage) for the first couple of days, until they are all eating and using their heating pad brooder appropriately.  Then, they are moved out into my spare coop where they are in a 4 x 8 loft for a couple of weeks before being allowed to have the lower 8 x 12 deep litter run area as well.  By the time they are 3 weeks old, they are flitting around in that whole loft/run like a bunch of parakeets.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]- How to raise healthy, strong chicks. (Supplements/Feed/Heat management, etc)  If hatching eggs, see to it that your flock is in prime condition to be supplying the healthiest eggs possible:  My flock gets fermented feed.  I let them out to range when I can be available to deal with any predators that show up.  We have  big issue with hawk predation.  I also provide supplemental vitamins, which make a decided difference in shell quality and egg size.  If greens not available in my yard, the flock gets sprouted grains.  [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]I have Poultry Nutri-Drench available and use it every other day for the first week or so.  If I have stressed chicks (more often with shipped chicks) I might mix up some electrolytes for them.  [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Healthy guts = healthy immune systems.  Chicks are hatched with immunity received from their mothers.  This lasts about 2 weeks.  That gives you a 2 week window to build a healthy immunity in your chicks.  Fermented feed is loaded with probiotics to jump start their gut flora.  It also has some extra vitamins that are manufactured by the yeast in the FF.  And the anti-nutrients are broken down, so the FF is easier to digest than dry feed.  A plug of sod from your yard will give them:  beneficial bacteria and fungi to further supply their guts with good flora.  It will also give them their first exposure to the pathogens (including cocci) that are in all soils.  DON"T PANIC!  Cocci are in all soils, and are a natural flora in a chicken's gut.  It's only when the bad guys outnumber the good guys that a chicken will get sick.  That plug of sod will also give your chicks:  their first grit, some minerals, their first greens, their first insects, and perhaps some worms.  Their first dust bath, and an opportunity to play king of the hill.  They will have infinite play opportunities with it.  When they wear that clump out, go get them an other one!  [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Brooder:  Make it big enough.  Chicks need room to play.  By the time you have their heat source, their feeder, and their waterer in there, there is often little room left for the chicks to move around.  The brooder needs to be big enough that the chicks can be under their heat source to warm up, but able to move away from that heat to get to an area that is room temperature.   I cringe when I see chicks confined to little boxes or rubbermaid tubs, with a heat lamp shining down on them.  It's so very easy to over heat those chicks.  If you ever see chicks laying down with wings spread or panting, they are too warm.  That is an emergency situation IMO.  I like to hang my waterer.  It makes it super easy to adjust the height and keep them from kicking bedding into it.  A wet brooder is an invite to illness.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Stress reduction:  Give them a minimum of 1 s.f./chick for the first couple of weeks.  After 2 - 3 weeks, I like to see them have 2 s.f./chick.  Crowded birds of any age will engage in destructive behavior.  Give them the opportunity to engage in normal chicken behavior, and they will be too busy to feather pick, or engage in cannibalism.  IMO the best possible brooding is accomplished with a heating pad cave for a heat source.  It more closely mimics the heat provided by a broody hen.  MHP chicks will sing themselves to sleep.  I've never heard that contented trill from a heat lamp chick.  MHP chicks are already adjusted to natural day/night cycles.  Not so with heat lamp chicks.  They often go into total panic when they experience dark!  MHP chicks all go to bed together, and get up together.   This encourages normal social and flock structure.  Heat lamp chicks are up all hours of the day and night.  When one chick does manage to fall asleep, he often gets trampled by the ones who are participating in the "all night jammie party".  MHP chicks are very easily brooded outdoors.  It's a bit more difficult to brood heat lamp chicks outdoors.  [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Anything you'd like to add?  Don't hatch chicks unless you have an exit plan for the roos, and any chicks that have developmental or genetic abnormalities.  [/COLOR]

 

[FireflyTX]

I am really new to raising baby chickens. I have 10 chicks and they are 3 weeks old and really doing well. I can't say enough great things about having a heat plate (Brinsea Ecoglow 20) instead of having a heat lamp. I really have nothing to compare it to but next week I'm putting them out in the coop with the Ecoglow and just keeping the coop shut until they finish feathering out. I live in Texas so no freezing weather here and at the most in March it may go down to 45 at night for a few hours but it won't be below 50 for very long. Mostly at night at this point it hoovers in the 50s and daytime is 70-80.

When do you all think I can take the heat plate away?

Also I have a mini run where I will put them outside to learn to forage and play in the grass. They are already dust bathing!!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I am really new to raising baby chickens. I have 10 chicks and they are 3 weeks old and really doing well. I can't say enough great things about having a heat plate (Brinsea Ecoglow 20) instead of having a heat lamp. I really have nothing to compare it to but next week I'm putting them out in the coop with the Ecoglow and just keeping the coop shut until they finish feathering out. I live in Texas so no freezing weather here and at the most in March it may go down to 45 at night for a few hours but it won't be below 50 for very long. Mostly at night at this point it hoovers in the 50s and daytime is 70-80.

When do you all think I can take the heat plate away?

Also I have a mini run where I will put them outside to learn to forage and play in the grass. They are already dust bathing!!!!

It’s your first time and you are probably nervous about it. You want to be extra cautious, just for your stress levels if nothing else. They are in the coop so they should have plenty of room. With an ecoglow they can easily get away from it if they get warm. They will be acclimated to the cooler temperatures. In those circumstances five weeks should be good to take the heat away. While they probably won’t need it, it will not hurt to leave it that long. If they don’t need it they will ignore it and you will sleep better.

 

[FireflyTX]

My coop is a decent size (I need to post pics. We just finished it and it is 5x8 made of vintage doors) I open the garage now as soon as I get up and sometimes it is 50 in there but the chicks don't even seem to care. They get up and run around like little maniacs. It's so stinking cute. As soon as I take the heat away from them I want to get a couple ducks for my garden and use the plate for them to grow in my garage the first few weeks like the chicks. I just didn't want to raise them together since I heard Ducks really make a mess of thinks and get the chicks wet.

 

[Eggsakly]

I've raised 30 chicks total in two separate efforts. I have used an extra large dog kennel and a 21-sf enclosed closet just for them. I did use a heat lamp both times, but this year I plan on making a chick cave with a heating pad, as azygous has in the photo. Better for the chicks, and less wattage for me.

I agree, also, with sumi, that watching the chicks' behavior is the best way to know if they are in the right temperature zone - happy chicks are all over the place when awake, and they are neither all huddled together right under their heat source nor spread out far away from it when awake or asleep.

Have it all set up before you go to the post office or elsewhere to pick up your chicks - the chicks will need the hydration and warmth ASAP. Paper towels down for the first "flooring" they have, water and/or electrolytes and chick starter feed, and a heat lamp, or a "brooder" heating cave that is DIY or purchased, should be on and the brooder warm when chicks arrive.

Do not store anything above your chicks' space. Things get moved, bumped and dropped, and it's dangerous.

 

[CrazedCowgirl]

- What preparations do you make before hatching/buying chicks?

I make sure that my brooder has clean shavings as well as a clean feeder and waterers. I turn on the heating pad 1-2 hrs before I pick my babies up, or the night before they're scheduled to hatch.

- Tell me about your brooder(s); Also, do you brood indoors or outdoors?

I brooder outdoors in my coop. I have a 3'x4' metal dog kennel lined with .25" hardware cloth that I have my brooder set up in. I use a 6 setting heating pad as a heat source as I don't like heat lamps in my coop. Not only is it a fire hazard, I think it gets too warm for the hens that roost over my brooder.

- How to raise healthy, strong chicks. (Supplements/Feed/Heat management, etc)

I keep my babies in the brooder for 3 weeks before I open the door just enough for them to get out and run with the big girls. Works pretty well for me, introductions and integrating them full time into the flock goes pretty smoothly. I keep my heating pad at around 85*F for 6 weeks then once I notice them not using it at all anymore (usually roosting with the girls at night) I just take it out and lock them out of the brooder so I can get another batch of babies going.

They get free choice Chick starter from a local mill and water. If I have shipped chicks I'll add 3 CC's of Nutri-drench per quart of water to help give them a little boost for the first week. So far I've only lost 3 chicks out of around 50 I've had shipped. Those loses were mainly from being tramped during shipment. I don't offer other supplements for chicks but once they get to free range with the hens, they get grit as I know they'll be eating bugs and grain I toss out a couple times a week.

 

[freenerik]

Here is my brooder as it was being built its located in our garage, the cat proving it was secure, 2 batches of babies from the last 2 years. We open up more area as they grow. Our hens also brood and when we have more than one we can section it off to make space for each broody and nest. In the winter we put the rabbits in it with a ramp to keep them out of weather and allow for exercise.