What to do when chicks first arrive? +other random concerns

[Jemma Rider]

I should have four baby chicks coming tomorrow (they were supposed to come today so now i am incredibly anxious that they could starve or pile on one another and crush the little ones but the shipping people say my babies will probably come tomorrow morning, i didn't want to order them at all but no other place had the breeds my mother and i wanted), I'm not super sure on what i should do with them first thing, like i just show them food and water and let them chill in the brooder for a day or two correct? I'm gonna check them all for sickness first like pasty butt but i assume i just leave them alone. It's probably a very stupid question but I'm very anxious about messing them up i feel like if i could just give them a good start they'll be healthy and great when they grow up.
Also, I'm using a heating pad for their heating source, but it doesn't get very hot so I'm also using one of my reptile bulbs. It is a fifty watt bulb and I'm just using it to up the heat overall. It's very far away and should only raise the temp to maybe seventy five through the whole brooder, and then they can get under the heating pad as well which is warmer. It won't be too hot i don't really have a question I'm sort of wondering if anybody else has any concerns?
And one last thing, i was going to start them on paper towels so i can see their droppings better and keep everything as clean as possible, this is okay right? I've read of splayed legs and read that paper towels are okay but i am still very worried the towels are too slippery. I laid the paper towels in the brooder to make a very thick type pad, so i don't think they could slip but i am still very worried.

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

First off chicks are super easy trust me I have had a lot and trust me I know it can be stressful at first but if you raise poults (turkey chicks) then you will really see how easy they are anyway back to your question I used a reptile lamp for some chicks make sure it is far enough away and doesn’t have a plastic lining thing IDK what that is but I’ve heard it’s bad for chicks also I’ve never used a heating bad if it’s heavy be careful they can’t suffocate or die of too high heat also you don’t want both a heating pad and a light then they will get to hot and die also make sure they can get out of the heat and cool down in a shady part of the brooder also paper towels aren’t the best idea to be safe if you can use pine chips that would be best also make sure they have plenty of food and clean water and a clean brooder and now here’s one of they most important steps to raising happy healthy chickens and happy healthy people enjoy them and love them!!!

 

[HenniesInMyHeart]

Hi there, do you have your brooder set up ready to go? When the babies come, make sure you teach them how to drink. They won't know how right away. When the chicks first get home, you need to take each chick and dip their beak in the water. If you use a dish, put marbles or clean stones in it so they can't get in there and drown. You will also need to change the water frequently because chicks are messy. Nipple waterers are wonderful and clean, so you may want to go that route. I got them for the first time this year and will never go back! Usually the chicks are curious about the shiny metal bit and will naturally peck at it out of curiosity, but make sure they know how. Tap it with your finger to make it drip and get their attention, and they should get the hang of it right away. If you have a thermometer to keep in your brooder, you want there to be a warm part that is 95 degrees for the first week, then decrease by 5 degrees each week after that.
Let us know if you have any more questions, and please post pictures!

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Jemma Rider]

First off chicks are super easy trust me I have had a lot and trust me I know it can be stressful at first but if you raise poults (turkey chicks) then you will really see how easy they are anyway back to your question I used a reptile lamp for some chicks make sure it is far enough away and doesn’t have a plastic lining thing IDK what that is but I’ve heard it’s bad for chicks also I’ve never used a heating bad if it’s heavy be careful they can’t suffocate or die of too high heat also you don’t want both a heating pad and a light then they will get to hot and die also make sure they can get out of the heat and cool down in a shady part of the brooder also paper towels aren’t the best idea to be safe if you can use pine chips that would be best also make sure they have plenty of food and clean water and a clean brooder and now here’s one of they most important steps to raising happy healthy chickens and happy healthy people enjoy them and love them!!!

Thank you, they should be here soon and I'm currently clawing for any new info that i haven't seen yet, I've read and watched everything i could find on chicks and i still feel completely unprepared.

 

[Jemma Rider]

Hi there, do you have your brooder set up ready to go? When the babies come, make sure you teach them how to drink. They won't know how right away. When the chicks first get home, you need to take each chick and dip their beak in the water. If you use a dish, put marbles or clean stones in it so they can't get in there and drown. You will also need to change the water frequently because chicks are messy. Nipple waterers are wonderful and clean, so you may want to go that route. I got them for the first time this year and will never go back! Usually the chicks are curious about the shiny metal bit and will naturally peck at it out of curiosity, but make sure they know how. Tap it with your finger to make it drip and get their attention, and they should get the hang of it right away. If you have a thermometer to keep in your brooder, you want there to be a warm part that is 95 degrees for the first week, then decrease by 5 degrees each week after that.
Let us know if you have any more questions, and please post pictures!

Welcome to BYC!

yup i have everything set up and marbles in my water dish and i checked, the temperature with the heat lamp and heating pad should be okay. I have both because they are in an air conditioned room so under the heating pad is warm and perfect but i was worried the rest of the brooder would be too cold.
thank you!

 

[beardrinkcoffee]

My brooder is in the basement of an air conditioned house. I got rid of the heat lamp because they preferred that over the Brinsea brooder that I paid $80 for and I'll be damned if I'm not getting my money's worth out of that thing!

The brooder plate is ~120 degrees on the surface and the area under it is a consistent 85 degrees even with the AC air settling on the floor around the box. If the heating pad is around that warm, they'll do just fine without the heat lamp.

 

[Blooie]

If you are using Mama Heating Pad, I think you'll find that the extra heat lamp is unnecessary, even in an air conditioned room. You'll never achieve that "95 the first week, 90 the second week, 85 the third week, etc" using Mama Heating Pad because that's not how it works. It works by warming the chicks directly, not by heating the entire space. I only measured the temperature under the cave once in answer to a question over on the Mama Heating Pad thread. It was 82.9 degrees in a 69 degree room. According to conventional wisdom, my chicks should have been dead! But there they were, going into their second week with MHP and thriving. 82 to 85 degrees seems to be the average for everyone using the heating pad cave. I raise my chicks outdoors in temperatures in the teens and twenties using just the heating pad, and they do just great. They only use it for a short time - nowhere near the 6-8 weeks that folks tend to keep them under lights indoors. By a week old they are spending time on top or beside it, by 3 weeks it's turned down to the two lowest settings, and by 4 weeks the heating pad is off and the brooder is completely removed. They wean themselves off it.

Having the entire brooder warm totally defeats the purpose of MHP. Chicks need a spot to cool off. Again, mine are outside in a wire pen in the run with temps in the twenties and dropping into the teens, with winds and blowing snow. If you watch chicks under a broody hen, they don't "live" under her when it's cold outside. They duck under for a quick warmup or a little security, and at bedtime, then they are back out exploring, drinking out of mud puddles and running over little patches of snow on the ground. They don't eat or drink at night - they snuggle under mom (or MHP) and sleep all night through. Maybe seeing this video will help.

A couple of things about the video to note. At the beginning I'm crouched in their brooder, and some of them are up against the wire of the brooder cheeping their little heads off and trying to get away from the big one eyed monster in their brooder. When I stand up and turn just a bit to the side, they make a beeline for MHP. Listen to the difference in their cheeps. As soon as they are underneath they are immediately calmed. Second thing to note is that it was all the way up to 38 degrees the day I took this video, and had been raining steadily for 3 days. None of the brooder was warmed except their cave. I hope this is encouraging for you, and wish you all the best for your chicks.

 

[Jemma Rider]

My brooder is in the basement of an air conditioned house. I got rid of the heat lamp because they preferred that over the Brinsea brooder that I paid $80 for and I'll be damned if I'm not getting my money's worth out of that thing!

The brooder plate is ~120 degrees on the surface and the area under it is a consistent 85 degrees even with the AC air settling on the floor around the box. If the heating pad is around that warm, they'll do just fine without the heat lamp.

Thank you! They just got here and i think I'll be turning off the heating lamp in a few. my lizard will be happy to have her spare light back anyway!

 

[Jemma Rider]

If you are using Mama Heating Pad, I think you'll find that the extra heat lamp is unnecessary, even in an air conditioned room. You'll never achieve that "95 the first week, 90 the second week, 85 the third week, etc" using Mama Heating Pad because that's not how it works. It works by warming the chicks directly, not by heating the entire space. I only measured the temperature under the cave once in answer to a question over on the Mama Heating Pad thread. It was 82.9 degrees in a 69 degree room. According to conventional wisdom, my chicks should have been dead! But there they were, going into their second week with MHP and thriving. 82 to 85 degrees seems to be the average for everyone using the heating pad cave. I raise my chicks outdoors in temperatures in the teens and twenties using just the heating pad, and they do just great. They only use it for a short time - nowhere near the 6-8 weeks that folks tend to keep them under lights indoors. By a week old they are spending time on top or beside it, by 3 weeks it's turned down to the two lowest settings, and by 4 weeks the heating pad is off and the brooder is completely removed. They wean themselves off it.

Having the entire brooder warm totally defeats the purpose of MHP. Chicks need a spot to cool off. Again, mine are outside in a wire pen in the run with temps in the twenties and dropping into the teens, with winds and blowing snow. If you watch chicks under a broody hen, they don't "live" under her when it's cold outside. They duck under for a quick warmup or a little security, and at bedtime, then they are back out exploring, drinking out of mud puddles and running over little patches of snow on the ground. They don't eat or drink at night - they snuggle under mom (or MHP) and sleep all night through. Maybe seeing this video will help.

A couple of things about the video to note. At the beginning I'm crouched in their brooder, and some of them are up against the wire of the brooder cheeping their little heads off and trying to get away from the big one eyed monster in their brooder. When I stand up and turn just a bit to the side, they make a beeline for MHP. Listen to the difference in their cheeps. As soon as they are underneath they are immediately calmed. Second thing to note is that it was all the way up to 38 degrees the day I took this video, and had been raining steadily for 3 days. None of the brooder was warmed except their cave. I hope this is encouraging for you, and wish you all the best for your chicks.

thank you! They just got here all alive and well. They are peeping quite a bit that's normal right? They just peep constantly right like adult chickens? The three chicks are all peeping quietly and softly but on of them is standing on top of the heating pad chirping at the top of its little lungs. Everybody else is under the heating pad.i showed them water and gave them a good ten minutes to drink before giving them food.
They're climbing the heating pad could they like fall down and hurt themselves or die or fracture something they're all nuts running around and exploring like little maniacs.
I'm defiantly getting ahead of myself but aren't rooster chicks a lot more vocal then girl chicks?
And aunt Darla my polish chick just ate a piece of fuz they can pass little pieces of fuz right? I eliminated all fuz from the environment and she's acting normal i think. But she keeps scratching one side of her face and I'm worried now.
And my black sumatra is bitting my porcelain duccle's feathered feet, i think in curiosity.
Also they keep pecking at the glass (they're in a large reptile tank).
This should not be so stressful, i have Punk my black sumatra in the first picture, Aunt Darla my polish and Cinderella my porcelain d'Uccle in the second. And the third is ginger my dark cornish in the third, and then Cinderella and Darla climbing together again.

 

[Jemma Rider]

My black sumatra is already trying to jump out of the brooder, and is being very loud. I ended up not using the lamp but i have it on hand if they all get too cold.

Also, what do i do if one of my chicks gets an impacted crop. One of my chicks ate a piece of fuzz before i could stop her, she's acting normal but i am still terrified.

Also, what should normal chick poo look like? I think it's normal but it's so small, they are all very well hydrated though that makes me feel better because I'm also worrying about pasty butt.

I am also very glad that i put them on paper towels because these chicks would've totally tried to eat shavings.
Sorry, i am a worried mess.