Having your own chickens is an experience that's both enjoyable and rewarding. Chickens make wonderful pets and provide you with healthy fresh eggs on a continual basis. The compost is also helped by adding the waste droppings from the chicken coop.
The following is a guide for anyone who plans to raise your own chickens from the chick stage.
Bedding:
When using newspaper as bedding, spread paper towels on top for the first 4 days taking the precaution to be sure that the surface isn't slippery. The use of wood shavings with young chicks is not advisable until they learn what their food is because they might eat it which can cause them to die from getting stopped up.
One suggestion is to use either hardware cloth, or an old window screen, and cut it to the dimensions of the brooder. Layer newspaper on the bottom and lay the wire on it. To clean it just lift out the wire and hose it down, replace with clean newspaper beneath it. Either bend the edges under, or tape over the edging so there aren’t any sharp wires to hurt their feet.
If you can anchor the edges, old bath towels also make great brooder floors. Shake them out then wash and dry to clean and reuse them. For small groups of chicks, topsoil absorbs droppings well and allows pretty good traction. This can be added to the compost afterwards.
Heat:
Chicks need 95 degrees for the first week. The temperature can be decreased by five degrees every week until they’re six weeks old and fairly feathered out and unless you live in a very cold area. Note that only part of the brooder needs to be this temperature, as the chicks need to be able to cool off when their bodies need to. If they are peeping a lot, and loudly, they are too cold! When older they'll be able to withstand normal temperatures.
If you don’t have a formal brooder, your heat source is usually a light bulb or heat-lamp. Be careful with these to be sure they aren't too low for the chicks to burn themselves. Also, especially with heat-lamps, be careful that the bedding can not catch fire.
Zoo Med Black Deluxe 10 in Brooder Lamp
Brooding:
Have your housing prepared before the chicks arrive. You’ll need a brooder to keep them in with a size according to how many you’re getting. If it’s got wire sides it’ll be drafty, so make a cardboard windbreak to keep around them for the first week or so. If there are many chicks, it’s best if this is circular so that they can’t get stuck in the corners. If the area is large for the number of chicks, it’s good to confine them this way near the heat so they learn where the heat source is. Small numbers can be raised in aquariums.
Shipping can be hard on some chicks and a sign of that stress is pasty backends from loose droppings. Keep a close eye on them for the first 5-6 days. This can cause them to die, therefore it’s important to check and keep them clean. There are a couple of ways to clean their backends if the need arises:
Feed and Water:
Fresh water should be available to the chicks at all times. As an energy supplement, can add one tablespoon of sugar per quart the first time watering newly hatched chicks. When you first get baby chicks, dip their beaks in the water so they learn what it is.
A chick starter feed should be fed to all chicks until they are 6 weeks of age and can find it at your local feed store. After this time, feed them a pullet grower feed until about 20 weeks (25 weeks for heavy breeds like Cochins and Brahmas). After that, they can be switched to a laying feed.In an emergency you can feed them crushed hard-boiled egg yolk for the first few days.
Types of feed – There are 3 forms of feed: mash, crumbles and pellets.
Mash is powdery, pellets are made of compressed mash, and crumbles are of broken up pellets. Some may find the mash as wasteful and not use it often. Crumbles are great for chicks and pellets for the older birds. They can still pick it up after it gets kicked from the feeders.
Natures Best Organic Feed - Chick Starter 50 Pound
Some feeds are medicated. Coccidiosis is a disease that can kill chicks that have not built up a resistance to it. They can pick it up outside from the droppings of other birds. If your chicks go outside you may want to give them a feed medicated with Amprolium, which controls the coccidiosis while allowing the birds to build up a resistance. Some medicated chick feeds are sold with antibiotics in them. There is no need to waste money on these.
Grit – are small stones that the bird stores in its gizzard that act like teeth and are used to grind up food. Grit is necessary only if the chicks have access to grain or other foodstuffs. Chicks on mash or crumbles don’t need it. You can get a chick-sized granite grit through the feed store or use parakeet grit from a pet store.
Another option for grit is to use old aquarium gravel if it’s small and clean enough. Once the chicks are old enough to be running out on the ground, they don’t need it supplied, as they can pick it up naturally. Please take note that oyster shell is not grit and can cause bone development problems in young birds. It’s used for hens that are laying to supply extra calcium for egg-shell production.
Protection and safety:
Be sure your chickens have plenty of water and shade during the hot summer months. A suggestion to safely raising baby chicks to adulthood requires that you have a rooster. Enclose an extra rooster in with the baby chicks once they are big enough to be moved outside (age 2 to 3 weeks), until old enough to free-range during the day with the rest of the flock. Unlike hens, which might kill chicks they haven’t hatched themselves, the rooster sees the chicks as his “flock” and will protect them and they will imitate him and learn how to forage. The full-grown chickens see the rooster with his flock of little ones and leave the babies alone (no picking on them as they otherwise might).
I’m not sure of the success you’ll have, but some people play a radio at night for the birds, and make sure there is good ambient lighting to deter any wild or stray predators such as foxes, cats, dogs, hawks, owls, coons, etc. Close them in their coop every night with protection overhead, on every side, and from enterring under the fence. The coop can be hooked up to electricity that’s controlled with a timer, optional.
Creep Feeders – For chicks over 6 weeks old!
If you’re going to introduce your chicks to an older flock of birds, this is a good way to make sure they can get to enough feed. In your chicken yard or coop, construct an area where you can keep a supply of grower feed and water with entrance holes too small for the older birds to get in. Confine the young birds for a few days in the separate area, or for at least the daytime, and you can return them to the brooder at night. They’ll learn where the food is and when you open the entrances they will soon start going out. The older birds might pick on them, but it should be fine as the chicks will have a safe refuge to retreat.
Sageymania
The following is a guide for anyone who plans to raise your own chickens from the chick stage.
Bedding:
When using newspaper as bedding, spread paper towels on top for the first 4 days taking the precaution to be sure that the surface isn't slippery. The use of wood shavings with young chicks is not advisable until they learn what their food is because they might eat it which can cause them to die from getting stopped up.
One suggestion is to use either hardware cloth, or an old window screen, and cut it to the dimensions of the brooder. Layer newspaper on the bottom and lay the wire on it. To clean it just lift out the wire and hose it down, replace with clean newspaper beneath it. Either bend the edges under, or tape over the edging so there aren’t any sharp wires to hurt their feet.
If you can anchor the edges, old bath towels also make great brooder floors. Shake them out then wash and dry to clean and reuse them. For small groups of chicks, topsoil absorbs droppings well and allows pretty good traction. This can be added to the compost afterwards.
Heat:
Chicks need 95 degrees for the first week. The temperature can be decreased by five degrees every week until they’re six weeks old and fairly feathered out and unless you live in a very cold area. Note that only part of the brooder needs to be this temperature, as the chicks need to be able to cool off when their bodies need to. If they are peeping a lot, and loudly, they are too cold! When older they'll be able to withstand normal temperatures.
If you don’t have a formal brooder, your heat source is usually a light bulb or heat-lamp. Be careful with these to be sure they aren't too low for the chicks to burn themselves. Also, especially with heat-lamps, be careful that the bedding can not catch fire.
Zoo Med Black Deluxe 10 in Brooder Lamp
Brooding:
Have your housing prepared before the chicks arrive. You’ll need a brooder to keep them in with a size according to how many you’re getting. If it’s got wire sides it’ll be drafty, so make a cardboard windbreak to keep around them for the first week or so. If there are many chicks, it’s best if this is circular so that they can’t get stuck in the corners. If the area is large for the number of chicks, it’s good to confine them this way near the heat so they learn where the heat source is. Small numbers can be raised in aquariums.
Shipping can be hard on some chicks and a sign of that stress is pasty backends from loose droppings. Keep a close eye on them for the first 5-6 days. This can cause them to die, therefore it’s important to check and keep them clean. There are a couple of ways to clean their backends if the need arises:
- With a warm moist cloth, softly moisten the stoppage until it can be scraped off, this method is easier on the chick.
- Another way to remove the dried gook is to simply pluck it off with the down it is stuck to. Having hairs pulled is more painful to the chick, but has the advantage that without the down to stick to their bottoms, the problem will not repeat itself.
Feed and Water:
Fresh water should be available to the chicks at all times. As an energy supplement, can add one tablespoon of sugar per quart the first time watering newly hatched chicks. When you first get baby chicks, dip their beaks in the water so they learn what it is.
A chick starter feed should be fed to all chicks until they are 6 weeks of age and can find it at your local feed store. After this time, feed them a pullet grower feed until about 20 weeks (25 weeks for heavy breeds like Cochins and Brahmas). After that, they can be switched to a laying feed.In an emergency you can feed them crushed hard-boiled egg yolk for the first few days.
Types of feed – There are 3 forms of feed: mash, crumbles and pellets.
Mash is powdery, pellets are made of compressed mash, and crumbles are of broken up pellets. Some may find the mash as wasteful and not use it often. Crumbles are great for chicks and pellets for the older birds. They can still pick it up after it gets kicked from the feeders.
Natures Best Organic Feed - Chick Starter 50 Pound
Some feeds are medicated. Coccidiosis is a disease that can kill chicks that have not built up a resistance to it. They can pick it up outside from the droppings of other birds. If your chicks go outside you may want to give them a feed medicated with Amprolium, which controls the coccidiosis while allowing the birds to build up a resistance. Some medicated chick feeds are sold with antibiotics in them. There is no need to waste money on these.
Grit – are small stones that the bird stores in its gizzard that act like teeth and are used to grind up food. Grit is necessary only if the chicks have access to grain or other foodstuffs. Chicks on mash or crumbles don’t need it. You can get a chick-sized granite grit through the feed store or use parakeet grit from a pet store.
Another option for grit is to use old aquarium gravel if it’s small and clean enough. Once the chicks are old enough to be running out on the ground, they don’t need it supplied, as they can pick it up naturally. Please take note that oyster shell is not grit and can cause bone development problems in young birds. It’s used for hens that are laying to supply extra calcium for egg-shell production.
Protection and safety:
Be sure your chickens have plenty of water and shade during the hot summer months. A suggestion to safely raising baby chicks to adulthood requires that you have a rooster. Enclose an extra rooster in with the baby chicks once they are big enough to be moved outside (age 2 to 3 weeks), until old enough to free-range during the day with the rest of the flock. Unlike hens, which might kill chicks they haven’t hatched themselves, the rooster sees the chicks as his “flock” and will protect them and they will imitate him and learn how to forage. The full-grown chickens see the rooster with his flock of little ones and leave the babies alone (no picking on them as they otherwise might).
I’m not sure of the success you’ll have, but some people play a radio at night for the birds, and make sure there is good ambient lighting to deter any wild or stray predators such as foxes, cats, dogs, hawks, owls, coons, etc. Close them in their coop every night with protection overhead, on every side, and from enterring under the fence. The coop can be hooked up to electricity that’s controlled with a timer, optional.
Creep Feeders – For chicks over 6 weeks old!
If you’re going to introduce your chicks to an older flock of birds, this is a good way to make sure they can get to enough feed. In your chicken yard or coop, construct an area where you can keep a supply of grower feed and water with entrance holes too small for the older birds to get in. Confine the young birds for a few days in the separate area, or for at least the daytime, and you can return them to the brooder at night. They’ll learn where the food is and when you open the entrances they will soon start going out. The older birds might pick on them, but it should be fine as the chicks will have a safe refuge to retreat.
Sageymania
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