Sunday, September 12, 2010

Raise Your Baby Chicks From Day One

Raising hens from baby chicks requires you to check on them often during the first few weeks. It's really fun to watch them turn from downy, fluffy little balls into feathered-out, gawky adolescent pullets. With some basic know-how, you can raise happy, healthy laying hens and, if you choose, roosters.




To start with, you need some chick-specific supplies:


Brooder. A brooder is some kind of tub or container for them to live in. The brooder can be a galvanized metal feeding tub, a large plastic feeding trough, or even a circle of cardboard. The purpose is to keep the chicks confined under the lamp so they don't wander away, get chilled and die. It should provide 2 square feet of space per chick.



Heat lamp. Purchase a 250-watt infrared heat lamp. Make sure it has a guard to prevent a fire if it falls. A red bulb is best as it decreases picking.


Thermometer. In the first few weeks of their lives, you need to keep your chicks at a relatively constant temperature. You'll start them out at 95 degrees F and slowly lower the temp 5 degrees per week as they grow. When they reach outside temperatures and have their feathers (around 6 weeks), you can remove the lamp and brooder.


Waterers and feeders. It's worth investing in special chick-sized feeders. For waterers, you might need smaller ones to fit in your brooder comfortably. I like the feeders with holes that they peck through. You'll save enough money in wasted feed with the chick feeders that it will pay for their cost. They're designed so that the chicks can't get into and poop in the feed or tip it over. Allow free access to feed at all times.


Bedding. Baby chicks need bedding just like older hens. Pine shavings are best as straw or hay are the wrong scale for them.


Feed. Use a high-quality chick starter feed. Different brands of feed will have you transition to grower at different ages - some at 6 weeks of age and some as late as 6 months of age. Follow the recommendations of your feed manufacturer.



Supplements. Use a high-quality chick starter and consider an electrolyte powder in their water for the first few weeks to ensure good health. Farm-grade diatomaceous earth sprinkled in their food keeps pests away.


Caring for Baby Chicks

Make sure you have your brooder set up before you bring your chicks home. Scatter the bedding into the brooder, hang the lamp (an adjustable height cord is helpful) and set up the thermometer. You want the bedding under the heat lamp to read 95 degrees F. Fill the waterers and feeders and set them so that they are not entirely under the lamp nor entirely at the edges, but where the chicks can eat comfortably and not get either chilled or overheated.



When your chicks first arrive home, whether from the feed store or via the shipping process from a far-away hatchery, they are probably a bit stressed. Gently remove them from the box and dip their beaks in water as you set them into the brooder. Let them be while they acclimate to their new home.



Watch your chicks to see if they are comfortable. Temperature is critical in the first few days and weeks. Think of the heat lamp as their replacement mother, because that's essentially what it is. Without the heat lamp they will die quickly. If the chicks huddle under the lamp, they may be too cold, so lower the lamp. If they scatter to the edges, they may be too hot, so you'll need to raise the lamp. Throughout the first week or so you'll need to keep a close eye on this.



"Pasting up" is a condition where feces builds up on the chicks' vents, blocking exit of more feces. This can kill young chicks. Causes include stress from shipping and getting chilled. Check your birds every day for pasting up and use a warm wet cloth to remove the feces. If really bad, you might need to cut the downy feathers around the vent off with scissors.



If you have children, be careful of overhandling. Curious dogs are also a risk to baby chicks. Put a screen door or other cover over the brooder to keep the chicks safe.



By 4-5 weeks of age the chicks are ready to move to their main coop full-time, or if the brooder is in the main coop, for the heat lamp and brooder to be removed. When you move them, keep them closed in the coop for a day or two (rather than letting them free-range) so that they learn that the coop is "home."

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