Why do I keep on failing to keep baby chicks?

[collingwood]

can you send me the names of those text books on how to teach a chick not to eat pine shavings, and the one on how to teach them what to eat and what not to eat? Should I read it aloud to them, or can they read it themselves?


LOL at y'all, 'teach them what not to eat'......it's easy, put them in a brooder and don't give them anything they're not supposed to eat. Once they're grown and you put them out, guess what, a chicken will eat what appeals to it's eyes, whether it's good for them or not. what do you do, smack them on the beak if they start toward that box of rat poison? There is no teaching a chicken what they're not supposed to eat......

OP, invest in a brooder, a  heat lamp, a feed tray and a nipple type watering system. Chick feed, some chick grit. Probiotics and/or electrolytes in the water. Keep them around 95* the first week, 90* the second week, 85* the third week, 75* week four. Watch them though, not everything is by the book. The chicks actions will tell you if they're too hot or cold, all piled up and chirping a lot, too cold! panting and listless, too hot! Give them one area of the brooder with the heat lamp, and plenty of room to move away from it if they want to. They'll come back to the heat if they get too cool...... After that they are pretty close to fully feathered and pretty much able to fluff their feathers up and keep themselves warm.

Thank you!

 

[ChristieB]

Unfortunately chicks are not a "set and forget" animal, they take a lot of time and energy, if you want chooks but can't care for chicks then I suggest getting point of lay hens

 

[ChristieB]

If you get pol hens now they should lay through winter this year and go into moult next summer ish,

 

[CheshireKat]

We kept our chicks in a box in the garage with a heat lamp. Gave them fresh water daily and fresh chick feed. After a few days we just took them outside, they ran around freely by the house and hid in between the bushes. We put the water and feed out there too and in the evening they would come back to the box and wait for us to carry them back inside. They were in the front yard every day until they were big enough to stay with the other chickens. They all lived
The only time we had chicks die is when I ordered Wyandottes. Only two of the 8 hatched and they both died within a day of hatching

Maybe when you do let them outside, make sure to cover them. Something like this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/400061/baby-chick-cage-run-pics
And keep your dog away from them! What kind of dog is it?

 

[Blooie]

Methinks this is a case of knowing what you want but not wanting to do everything it takes to get there. That's not an insult, it's more common than folks think. Someone wants chicks and that's where the thinking process stops. Put 'em in a box and they are smart enough to survive. It ain't necessarily so, as you have learned. So now you've made your mistakes - we all have - it's time to either get serious about their care or get a goldfish.

Housing - they need a safe place made as predator proof as you can possibly make it. Dogs must be considered predators, as can cats and small children. Your job is to make sure they can't be reached.

Try this.....practically foolproof.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy

Good luck! I hope the next time you post you'll be glowing with success and you'll have a brooder full of chicks peeping happily away!

 

[LoveThemBirds]

I have saw plenty people have to teach them not to eat pine shavings

 

[PapaChaz]

I have saw plenty people have to teach them not to eat pine shavings

you have saw plenty of people have to teach them not to eat pine shavings, really.

so how did they 'teach' them, I'm really seriously curious how they would do this. In the North Carolina Mtns, there is a town called Cherokee. Tourist town, shops, restaurants etc etc.........there used to be a place there that had a rooster that played tic tac toe. You paid a fee, and if you won the game, you won a prize. If the rooster won, he got a cup of feed, usually corn scratch. He got to go first, which meant he would always win. They trained him (taught) by giving him food/treats for successful attempts.

Much different than someone saying they're teaching their chicks not to eat what's bad for them......I seriously want to know how this was done. Smack their beaks? make them stand in the corner? "No heat light for you sister, I told you to stop eating the pine shavings"!! I mean seriously, tell me how this was done. You can't stay and watch the chicks 24/7 to stop them when they do it. And they are GOING to do it.....I want to know the methodology used.

and for the record, my chicks peck at the pine shavings all the time, scratch around in them, throw them all over each others backs, then pick them off. Have yet in all the different times I've had chicks and been around chickens to see any harm come to them for pecking at/eating the pine shavings

 

[LoveThemBirds]

They teacg them feed from wood shavings.As I did my research.They will eat the,tiny shavings.When I say teach,they teach them ro eat their feed when they firstget them too.Search videos etc before judging and saying things,I see what your doing.

Respect.Incorrect info,it's best rto make it right.

 

[dekel18042]

Chickens are flock animals so I would suggest getting more than two. At least three, so if one dies you still have two. Four or five would be better than three IMHO. Babies still need supplemental heat, but they do help to keep each other warm.
Once I raised two and once a singleton, but only because that is all that hatched from shipped eggs. But I do have a brooder they could go under so they stayed warm. The two were easy but it was difficult to introduce the singleton to the flock as he wasn't used to other chickens.

 

[PapaChaz]

They teacg them feed from wood shavings.As I did my research.They will eat the,tiny shavings.When I say teach,they teach them ro eat their feed when they firstget them too.Search videos etc before judging and saying things,I see what your doing.

Respect.Incorrect info,it's best rto make it right.

exactly, they WILL eat the shavings, I put starter crumbles in the brooder with them. I can't sit and watch them 100% of the time. I didn't have to teach them to eat the food, they went right to it. I didn't have to teach them to drink the water, they went right to it. I didn't have to teach them to go to the bowl of chick grit, they went right to it. They do peck and and eat the shavings, and I don't know how to make them stop doing that.

I also put sweet PDZ in the bottom of the brooder and spread the shavings on top of it, they scratch the shavings away and peck at the PDZ and eat it, they go right to the meal worm treats I put in occasionally. Same with the lettuce scraps, and yesterday we had corn on the cob for supper. I purposely left a couple rings of corn around one end of the cob and put a couple cobs in with them, they immediately went right to them and started pecking them. I didn't have to teach them to eat the food or treats I put in. It's in their nature to peck at everything and eat it....

I wasn't judging, and I certainly wasn't the one putting incorrect information in the thread. I asked a specific question about something you posted, but you haven't posted the specific answer yet. There's been no disrespect, just a question about info YOU put in but haven't backed up yet. I said my chicks eat the pine shavings, if it's harmful to them, and there's a way to teach them not to eat them I need to know what that way is. You say you've seen people teach chickens what not to eat, all I did was ask what the methodology is to do that so I can teach mine not to.......instead of answering you accuse me of judging and being disrepectful. I see what you're doing, giving unsubstantiated advice and then not able to back it up.

I've come back to edit this to add: I've followed your advice and went up to the search feature. I typed in 'how to teach my chicks not to eat pine shavings'. It came back with over 35K pages of stuff. Now, I didn't go through all 35K pages, but I did scan the first 7 or 8 pages. There is a LOT of discussion about chicks eating pine shavings, some that say it's bad, some like me who say they've always seen their chicks do it and never seen any harm from it. I didn't see one single thread topic on how to teach them NOT to do it.....

There are some who say it's possible that eating the pine shavings can stop up their crop and not let nutrition get through and stunt the chicks growth or even cause them to starve to death! I didn't know this, and don't want to risk that with my chicks. So I'll ask again, can you please post the specific instructions, or a link to a video you mentioned so I can know how to teach my chicks not to eat the shavings! please?