what is everything I need?

[junior67]

what are all the supplies I need to start with chicks and once they move out to the coop. I am set on a brooder and heating source, have those figured out. but what else do I need? Links to good types of things would be great too. I know food but what kind? I know a feeder/water "bowl" but what kind? etc. TIA!

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are a lot of nice-to-haves but the needs are pretty simple. In the brooder they need food, water, protection from the environment, protection from predators, and room to grow. The brooder needs to stay dry and have decent ventilation and wind protection.

For their first several weeks they need a Starter. That should have a calcium content of around 1%. It could be a little less or a little more but somewhere around 1%. Your other option is Layer which has about a 4% calcium content. That is a big no-no. Stay around 1% Calcium. The protein contend should be around 18% to 20%. That protein level gets them off to a good start and helps them feather out fast. If you look on the label you should be able to see the analysis, the percent of a few basic nutrients. The bag may be called Starter but some people use feeds with other names like All-Flock or Flock-Raiser. Those are just marketing names, the percent calcium and protein on the label is what is important. The feed should be either a crumble or a mash. Pellets are too big for baby chicks to eat.

For waterers you have all kinds of options. You can use a vacuum-gravity waterer, you can probably buy one at the feed store. They are usually a red plastic with a plastic jar that screws on about the size of a quart jar. Some people use nipple waterers, either horizontal or vertical. I use a black rubber bowl I get from Tractor Supply and fill it with small rocks so the chicks can drink but not fall in and drown. They all can work but the important thing is that the should not leak. Your brooder needs to stay dry. And the water needs to be clean. Dirty water or a wet brooder are unhealthy.

Protection from predators should be pretty self-explanatory. In your house that might mean your pets or your kids.

Protection from the environment basically means you do not want a breeze blowing on the chicks and, if outside, it doesn't rain on them. They need a spot warm enough in the coolest conditions and a spot cool enough in the warmest conditions. In your climate controlled house that can be pretty easy to do but if your brooder is outside where it is subjected to temperature swings that can be more challenging.

When they move out to the coop the needs stay pretty much the same: food, water, protection from predators and the environment, and room. You can get all kinds of different opinions on what food is best. Some people continue to feed an 18% to 20% protein feed, some of us cut back to 16%. The main thing to me is that they don't need a higher calcium feed until they start laying, so stay around 1% calcium. I don't care what the protein level is as long as it isn't ridiculously high or low. If you let yours forage for much of what they eat you've lost control over this anyway.

The same types of waterers will work. Lots of different options.

Again, predator protection is pretty self-explanatory. You don't want anything that can kill them or eat them be able to get to them. Environmental protection changes a little. You still don't want a cold breeze in winter to hit them when they are sleeping but in the heat of summer that can feel good to them. You don't want it to raining on them in the coop. Mine enjoy being outside in a gentle rain in the summer. Unless you get to below -20 F in winter you should not need to give them any heat, their down coat keeps them warm.

If you want, you can read my thoughts on how much room if you follow the link in my signature below. You'll see why I don't believe in magic numbers for room. Those are starting points, not end points.

In the coop you will want nests and roosts. I like a small "pop" door for them to use to go from the coop to the run. You can use a human sized door but that lets rain and weather in the coop. A small pop door does a lot better at keeping the weather outside.

I consider these the basic needs. There are a lot of nice-to-haves but it will not harm them to not have them. You might put a perch in the brooder, just something they can hop up on. In the coop I like a broody buster and a place to isolate an injured chicken or one that is behaving badly if I need to. There are all kinds of things you can do that might make your life easier or that the chickens enjoy. To me the greatest "toy" you can give your chickens is lots of room. That is the greatest boredom buster there is.

 

[Mamatomany123]

when do you start them with grit? as 1 day old chicks or older?

You need to provide grit once you start giving them anything other than chick food. If you give them treats then they need grit.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do I need to get electrolites to put in their water after I get them home

Some people use electrolytes or something else, I don't. I hatch my own or get them shipped from a hatchery through the post office. All I ever supply is clean water.

A trick I've used a couple of times. If a chick is acting lethargic and not drinking or eating I take a medicine dropper and put a drop of sugar-water on the tip of its beak. You do not want to force water down its throat, you might drown it. Just a drop at a time on its beak. I actually use hummingbird liquid, you can use electrolytes or some other specialty product. The idea is that the sugar in the water gives it energy to bring it out of its funk so it will start eating and drinking on its own. plus it helps hydrate it. Through the years I've only done this a couple of times, once with a chick and once with a hen that wasn't acting right.

Since this has been so rare for me, I use what I have on hand instead of keeping something that will expire. If your mailed chicks are delayed adding something to their first water would probably be a really good idea. If you use hummingbird liquid or make your own sugar-water, dump it after 12 hours or so to keep it fresh. For the other stuff I suggest reading the label to see how they suggest you do it.

Keeping water clean is very important. With the nipple system your water should be clean, but make sure mosquitoes can't get to the reservoir to breed. The brooder needs to be dry. Some waterers, not just nipple waterers, can leak. Not all do but some do. Something to be alert for. To me a dry brooder is extremely important.

Do they need any probiotics or medicated feed or anything else like that at first?

what things should I have on hand for the chicks JIC they get sick and need something?

I'll copy something I wrote on medicated feed and Coccidiosis at the end of this. I try to give you enough information so you can make an informed decision.

On false rumor floating around this forum is that if the chicks have Coccidiosis the poop will be bloody. There are different strains of the bug that causes Coccidiosis, they each attack a specific part of their digestive system. A couple of those strains do cause bloody stools. So if you see blood in the stool you need to immediately start treating them for Cocci. But the majority of them do not cause bloody stools. They can cause loose stools, but the major sign is that the chicks act lethargic. They hunch up and fluff up, and just stand around. So if you see that behavior start treating for Cocci. Do not wait for bloody stools, they may never happen.

How do you tell the difference in shipping stress and Cocci, the symptoms are very much the same? Timing. Cocci takes a while to develop, you are not going to see any signs of it the first week or so.

Instead of filling them full of drugs or treating things that aren't there I try to strengthen their immune system from the very start. I cover that in the Cocci/medicated feed write-up below. My brooder is in the coop so the chicks are exposed to the adults immediately. On day 2 or 3 I take dirt from the run and start feeding it to them twice a week or so. This gets grit into their system from the start. It gets any probiotics the adults have into the chicks systems, that's a trick wild animals use a lot with their young. And it gets them working on any flock immunities they may need.

The way I understand it you don't have any adults so they won't get any benefits from probiotics. I'd still feed them dirt. That gets grit in their systems and your soil might have something in it that they need to start working on flock immunities. I prefer them doing that in my brooder where I can watch them more closely than running around outside. And I keep my brooder really dry, that greatly reduces the chances of them getting sick even if something is there.

Now for that write-up I mentioned.


First you need to know what the "medicated" is in the medicated feed. It should be on the label. Usually it is Amprolium, Amprol, some such product, but until you read the label, you really don't know. Most "medicated' feed from major brands for chicks that will be layers uses Amprolium, but there are a few out there mostly for broilers that use other medicines. I'll assume yours is an Amprolium product, but if it is not, then realize everything I say about it may not apply. And it is possible that the "medicated" is Amprolium AND something else.

Amprol is not an antibiotic. It does not kill anything. It inhibits the protozoa that cause coccidiosis (often called Cocci on this forum) from multiplying in the chicken's system. It does not prevent the protozoa from multiplying; it just slows that multiplication down. There are several different strains of protozoa that can cause Cocci, some more severe than others. Chickens can develop immunity to a specific strain of the protozoa, but that does not give them immunity to all protozoa that cause Cocci. Little bitty tiny baby chicks can develop that immunity easier than older chickens.

It is not a big deal for the chicken’s intestines to contain some of the protozoa that cause Cocci. The problem comes in when the number of those protozoa gets huge. The protozoa can multiply in the chicken’s intestines but also in wet manure. Different protozoa strains have different strengths, but for almost all cases, if you keep the brooder dry, you will not have a problem.

To develop immunity to a specific strain, that protozoa needs to be in the chicks intestines for two or three weeks. The normal sequence is that a chick has the protozoa. It poops and some of the cysts that develop the protozoa come out in the poop. If the poop is slightly damp, those cysts develop and will then develop in the chick's intestines when the chicks eat that poop. This cycle needs go on for a few weeks so all chicks are exposed and they are exposed long enough to develop immunity. A couple of important points here. You do need to watch them to see if they are getting sick. And the key is to keep the brooder dry yet allow some of the poop to stay damp. Not soaking wet, just barely damp. Wet poop can lead to serious problems.

What sometimes happens is that people keep chicks in a brooder and feed them medicated feed while they are in the brooder. Those chicks are never exposed to the Cocci protozoa that lives in the dirt in their run, so they never develop the immunity to it. Then, they are switched to non-medicated feed and put on the ground where they are for the first time exposed to the protozoa. They do not have immunity, they do not have the protection of the medicated feed, so they get sick. Feeding medicated feed while in the brooder was a complete waste.

I do not feed medicated feed. I keep the brooder dry to not allow the protozoa to breed uncontrollably. The third day that they are in the brooder, I take a scoop of dirt from the run and feed it to them so I can introduce the protozoa and they can develop the immunity they need to the strain they need to develop an immunity to. To provide a place for that slightly damp poop, I keep a square of plywood in the dry brooder and let the poop build up on that. I don't lose chicks to Cocci when they hit the ground.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding medicated feed to chicks, whether the protozoa are present or not. It will not hurt them. They can still develop the immunity they need. But unless the protozoa are present, it also does no good.

If you get your chicks vaccinated for Cocci, do not feed medicated feed. It can negate the vaccinations.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I'll have to check what my chick starter crumbs have calcium wise, thx for the tip ridge.
So water, food, heat, dryness, and ventilation. Humidity 40-60%.

I am planning to feed mine some mealworms and crickets as treats this time.

Make sure you provide grit for them then.

 

[Cindy in PA]

It's good to give them grit after the first couple days whether you are giving them only chick feed or not, as they tend to try to eat everything, even bedding.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You can potentially sift out chick sized pieces from bigger grit, or from mixed sized smallish gravel.

As far as how to "serve" it, I sprinkle a tiny pinch on their food every few days. You can also put it in a small dish but between their penchant for knocking things over and gorging on all the wrong things, I find it easier to just put a tiny amount in their food.

 

[Ryguy3684]

would I just put some nutri Drench in the water for the first couple days? I am doing the nipple feeder in a 32 oz waterer so don't want to give them too much but would like to help them any way I can to start. they said they would be vaccinated against Merek's but that was all it said. so as long as I have Corid on hand then it should be fine to feed reg feed and just watch for coccidiosis? (what do I watch for?)

Sorry for all the questions but I try to do as much research before anything may come up so I am sure to have everything on hand or at least know what to look for before there is a huge problem and I have to do research on what the problem might be and how to fix it.

Yes, the bottle of nutri drench should have dosage to mix in the water source. Mareks is common for hatchery chicks to be vaccinated for.
Usually, the first sign of coccidiosis is bloody stool. With chicks, they may also be lethargic and not gaining weight. Since corid is safe at proper doses, it's simple enough to treat the whole flock.

 

[Mamatomany123]

We use an old dog crate for our brooder. I line the bottom half with cardboard because when they're little they can for through the bars. We just use these small waterer and feeder. I feed dumor chick starter then switch to all flock once they're a little bigger. We brood ours in the coop . Use a brooding plate but we have electricity in our coop. I also use pine shavings . Some people use paper towels but I've never had a problem with shavings.

 

[junior67]

If using that waterer, start with vertical. Horizontal requires more pressure and chicks may not be able to toggle it successfully until 3 weeks or older.

As far as keeping things drier... possibly yes, possibly no. Vertical nipples can be prone to dripping. I never had much issue with drips but chicks might play with it, or bump into it while playing, so you will want to keep an eye out for any puddling under the waterer.

When they're older you can use either one. I use horizontal as it's less prone to freezing in cold temperatures.

Thank you! I knew I had read different things on which one but couldn't really find what I was looking for on which is good and why so glad you said that! Will keep that in mind when making the bigger one for the coop for when they are older!