what do i put in their water ?? HELP !

[meyer.miniatures]

i have chicks due to hatch any time now..i know that they should have something in their water to help them out and get them started ??? can anyone tell me what and how much ?? they have a quart jar waterer ready to go .

 

[roosmom]

I believe what you re talking about is electrolytes. I know they sell it at my local feed store so maybe at yours too. People on here say there are substitutes if you cant find electrolytes, but that I do not know what it is.
We didnt hatch ours, we bought ours day old from the feed store. But I still only used one bag and then I switched to reg water. After they started to get little feathers I added ACV into thier water. If I am wrong I am sure someone else will tell you the correct stuff to get.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Plain water is fine or you can add vitamins. Read the label as to how much to add in.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Quote:
Not electrolytes. Vitamins. Use electrolytes only when dehydration is a factor. There are health issues when using electrolytes when they are not needed. You would have to check with dlhunicorn for specifics.

 

[MissPrissy]

Newly hatched healthy chicks need nothing more than fresh clean water.

You can use quik chik and othe similar additives to give your chicks a boost but that is really not neccessary and those products are normally used for chicks that have been shipped and are under alot of physical stress.

You'll be better off to take a deep breath. Slow down. Make sure the brooder has heat, fresh water in the chick drinker and a full chick feeder of starter crumbles.

Don't panic. Don't make it over complicated.

We human tend to over engineer everything. Your chicks will absorb their yolk just prior to hatch. They will not want to eat or drink initially. Some may not begin to eat and drink for 24 - 48 hours. Don't force it. Once they are in the brooder, dry and scooting around, gently dip the tip of their beak in water so they know to drink.

Everything is going to be fine.

 

[gumpsgirl]

I was responding until I scrolled down and saw MissPrissy's post. She said it all!

 

[Brahmadarma]

I had heard to put a little sugar in the water just for the first day. I don't have sugar so I used a little bit of hummingbird feed dissolved in half a gallon of water just for the first day after being shipped.
The only other time I did this was after treating with Sulmet for five days (plus organic yogurt as a pro-biotic).
I am new too and am learning so much through this site.
Enjoy the little darlings while they're small, mine are growing fast!

 

[MissPrissy]

Sugar water is not needed for newly hatched chicks.

Sugar water is used in a case of I don't have anything else and this chick needs a perk up.

The sugar pulls water into the intestines and acts like a laxative. In chicks that do not need any treatments this quickly turns to pasty butt which can be fatal in some cases.

The routine usage of anything in new hatched chicks quickly overcomes there newly functioning systems and causes more problems than it is worth.

After 20 years of raising chicks and chickens a newly hatched chick of normal conditions needs NOTHING more than clean pure water and chick starter. Sometimes shipped chicks need a boost but for the most part even shipped chicks are perfectly fine with clean pure water and chick crumbles.

Doing too much for chicks is as fatal as doing too little.

 

[Katy]

I've never given my new chicks anything but plain old water. If I have a slow chick I'll give just that chick a drop of vitamins, but I don't treat the whole bunch.

 

[roosmom]

Thank-you MissPrissy and Farmer Kitty for correcting me. I am sure meyer.miniatures will be glad to get the correct stuff too.