The best thing is to be prepared a day ahead of time.
In advance, get the phone number of your post office sorting room. They won't answer the primary number until hours of operation. That will be too late because the chicks will be on the road by then. They'll likely get to your post office by 5AM. They're supposed to call you when they arrive but they don't always do that. Call to make sure they're there (they'll be loud so they'll know). Go pick them up. You'll need to knock on the freight door in the back.
Bring your camera and open the box (carefully so they don't jump out) and look for dead chicks and if there are any, show the clerk.
Have the car warm but if you're getting 20 or more chicks, they'll keep each other warm.
Your brooder should already be set up and warm. I put paper towels on the floor of the brooder to give them good footing and you can roll up the feces and throw it away or compost it. Anything slick on the floor can cause slipped tendons.
They instinctually peck at what is at their feet, so sprinkle feed on the paper towels and they won't have to be taught how to eat. You can also scramble some eggs and sprinkle that there too. Not too much cause they won't eat much of anything for a few days but they must have access to feed.
They've been in a box for a couple days so there is no need to hurry now. They've never drank in their life so take each chick out of the box and dip its beak into the water. Make sure they take a drink before you go to the next chick. Eventually, enough of the chicks will figure it out to teach the others.
The brooder needs to be large enough to provide a hot spot and plenty of cool space.
A mother hen doesn't heat all the ambient air to 95F. She provides a hot warm up spot under her and takes the chicks out into the world regardless of ambient temps.
You can be overly fastidious about this and be sure to provide a place 90-95 the first week and lowering it by 5F each week. Or you can do what I do and provide a hot spot (100 or so) and with plenty of cool space, they'll find their comfort zone. I just leave it like that till they come out of the brooder for good.
There are several ways to brood. Most economical is a heat plate like the Premier 1. They are pricey to start with but save so much on electricity that they pay for themselves by the second brooding.
Most people use a red infrared heat lamp. I used to but haven't in about 10 years for several reasons. In a small space, they are too hot. I left some newly hatched chicks with my chicken sitter when I went out of town and they got too hot and died.
They basically only come in 250 watt size.
They're fragile and can break. They don't last forever and can go out during the night. (for that reason, if using lamps, provide 2 in case that happens)
They require that the light is on 24/7. Chicks need a dark period after the first 3 or 4 days at your house.
If I use a brooder lamp style setup, I use ceramic heat emitters. You can get them in anywhere from 50 watt to 300 watt. I use 150 watt. Depending on your setup, you can put a 75 or 150 at each end of your brooder so if one fails during the night, the chicks will still be good. They are fairly efficient since they don't produce light. They can break but aren't as fragile as the glass ones.
You can leave a light on for about 3 days/nights so the chicks can eat/drink whenever they feel like it. Then I give them about 5 hours of darkness each night for a couple nights then go to an 8 hour dark period from then on.
After about 3 or 4 days when the chicks know what feed is and they are eating out of a feeder, you can switch out from paper towels and go to something like pine shavings, corn cob bedding or sand.
I give
probiotics and a
vitamin supplement in their first water. This tends to prevent pasted vent.
I'm fastidious about this step whether they are hatched here or shipped.
I use Gro2Max powder in the water for probiotics.
http://gro2max.com/ It is formulated specifically for chickens. Since it contains bacteria and yeast, I de-chlorinate the water with an aquarium de-chlorinator.
I use Nutri-Drench for poultry in the water. This is especially important for shipped chicks to give them a fast start.
http://www.nutridrench.com/
Before I used this, for shipped chicks, I would add some sugar or agave nectar to the first water to give an energy boost.
Nutri Drench contains molasses so it accomplishes the same thing.
I recommend getting some
chick grit and sprinkling a little on the feed the first couple days and afterward sprinkle it on the floor or provide a separate feeder for it. While this step isn't necessary for birds eating only chick starter, it helps develop the gizzard and will be needed if anything other than feed is fed down the road. I don't recommend feeding anything other than fresh chick starter till they are old enough to go outside to forage on their own.
Chick grit #1 size is only good for the first 4 or 5 weeks. Then you need to move to a larger size. #2 is only good till about week 7 or 8, then they need adult grit. size #3.
One last thing is ventilation. Fresh air is the most important nutrient before fresh clean water and good food.
