what do chicks need?

[Faeshka]

I have had ducklings & goslings before, but I'm not sure if what chicks need is similar. When I did ducklings, they got starter/grower feed, always had water available and they did quite well. If I'm getting chicks for laying eggs when they grow up, do they need the same thing or do they also need grit too?

 

[Brooks_]

Starter/grower or an all flock feed and water. Heat when little. Very similar to ducks and geese. As for grit, some say that with free ranging/plenty of outdoor time that they'll find their own grit. I have found the grit to be cheap enough and won't spoil so I leave it available for them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Plenty of clean water. Protection from wind, rain, and heat. Protection from predators. Enough space to nest, to sleep, and to run about dduring the day. A complete feed appropriate to their age and purpose (or All Flock, Free Choice Oyster Shell, Free choice grit). and plenty of clean fresh water (again).

Mine free range, grit is VERY important for that. Plenty of soils don't have apparopriate rocks. Its a small investment, and its no subject to the weather. 10/10 recommend.

I did mention penty of clean fresh water???

(could be out heat index is over 100 today, and the RV A/C ain't cutting it.)

 

[Faeshka]

How long to they need to stay in the brooder before they can have time to play outside?

Heat index here is well over 100 today and my house AC is definitely not cutting it either.

 

[3KillerBs]

How long to they need to stay in the brooder before they can have time to play outside?

Heat index here is well over 100 today and my house AC is definitely not cutting it either.

I brood outdoors in a huge brooder that allows them to seek out the temperature they're most comfortable with.

When you take them out of their brooder they need to know how to find a place that's warm enough, how to find a place that's cool enough, where their food is, and where their water is. They'll need a shady place out of direct sun and a sheltered place out of the wind that they can go to when they need it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

How long to they need to stay in the brooder before they can have time to play outside?

Heat index here is well over 100 today and my house AC is definitely not cutting it either.

mine are 8 days old, and outside already in a protected run. Lots of water, lots of feed, lots of shade, multiple wind breaks, and clutter to keep their attention.

My commiserations on your heat. Headed back out to take more screws out of the formworks for my now complete concrete pour.

 

[Faeshka]

My biggest concern with brooding outside is protection from rain. We don't have a proper barn and the rain blows so hard that even the screen porch we have gets rather wet.

 

[3KillerBs]

My biggest concern with brooding outside is protection from rain. We don't have a proper barn and the rain blows so hard that even the screen porch we have gets rather wet.

This is my brooder. It's completely weatherproof.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/

 

[U_Stormcrow]

To clarify, I'll bring mine in this evening. I could, technically, move them to the grow out pen in the barn, with its attached outside run, but I have two much larger ducks in there now - and 5 week old ducks should not be in the same space as not even 2 wk old chicks.