The Farm*Homestead*Garden Blog

All things farm, garden, homestead related from the Catsndogs4us family.

Our life on a wild, woodland homestead.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Baby Chicks- Brooding Chicks The Early Weeks. Raising Chicks Series Part 2

Your chicks HAVE WILL SOON arrive, time to get the brooder ready. I crossed out have because getting the brooder ready needs to be done before the chicks arrive not when they've already arrived. There are many ways to brood your chicks safely. The things to remember are a safe shelter to live in, appropriate food, water they can't drown in and a heat source for them.

Safe Shelter- This is usually called the brooder. You can buy, make or repurpose an items for your brooder. I have usually repurposed, using existing cages we already had. Others have made their brooders out of wood and hardware cloth or a very large rubbermaid bin with the lid mostly cut out and replaced by hardware cloth. I've seen brooders made from great big sturdy cardboard boxes and brooders made by sectioning off a small area in a barn or coop. The goal of the brooder is to keep the chicks safe from harm and near to everything they need, heat, food, water.

Some of my brooders examples:

A repurposed reptile cage.

This kept them safe from this curious cat.

A repurposed rabbit cage, easy to attach perches.

A repurposed dog kennel covered in hardware cloth the bars were pretty far apart and chicks could have fit out without the hardware cloth covering.

Another small animal cage example.

Yet another brooder example using a repurposed cage. This time in the coop itself with a mama hen hatching eggs.

We have animal cages so that is what I've used. There are many more options that can work just fine, look around online and see what appeals to you as a brooder. As long is the brooder keeps your chicks safe and warm they will be fine. Safe from what? That depends are you brooding in the house, the garage, the coop? Predators can be cats and dogs even well behaved pets can get curious. Small children may love the chicks so much they might accidentally harm them if the access to the brooder is too easy such as an open top. Within the barn or coop other hens could be an issue or wildlife. In the garage again pets or possibly small wildlife could slip in such as raccoons, minks, rodents...

The brooder also needs to keep the chicks draft free if it's placed in a cooler area, cardboard on the sides can help with that (as well as help keep in the shavings as the chicks grow and start scratching around). For the first couple days it can be helpful to line your brooder floor with paper towels, this can help the chicks to learn what their food is and not ingest shavings while they're learning. After that though wood shavings is a fine bedding for them.
This group wasn't in a drafty place but they and their mama were making a mess!

Heat Source- Alright so now you have figured out what you wish to use for a brooder, next up is a heat source. There are many options but I'll consider only two. Those are the real life mama hen or the electric hen!

mama hen and chicks

Electric "mama hen" and chicks.

If you lack a mama hen my only recommendation is an electric hen of some sort. These are heat plates that radiate warmth to the chicken in the same way a mama hen would. The four main brands that I know of are Titan, Brinsea, Premier 1 and Sweeter Heater. Amazon carries all of these in various sizes as do many other online sources and some feed stores. Others brood chicks with heat lamps but I can not recommend them. I joined chicken groups a year before I had chickens and read of many house, barn and coop fires caused by heat lamps. One news story hit home particularly, a woman in my state- a veterinarian died when her chicks heat lamp caused her house to burn down. I also had previous experience with heat lamps and my lizards. Even after spending quite a lot of money on those heat lamps and bulbs and ceramic heat emitters I changed to a different method after learning of a house fire locally caused by reptile lamps. (Disclaimer I do still use the fluorescent UV bulbs for my lizards so they get what they need from those, they don't get hot. I just use other heat sources) Heat lamps with the red or normal bulbs and ceramic heat emitting bulbs both get very, very hot. Chicks brooders contain dry wood shavings. It's not a good combination in my opinion. Heat lamps can fall, shavings can blow up into the lamps. It's not for me. Also, the electric brooder plates use much less electricity!


Okay, off my soapbox now and we move on to food and water. 

Food and Water -Chicks will need a suitable device to hold their water and another for their food. Chicks should always have free choice food and fresh water. Most people, me included, use some sort of a water fount for the chicks water. In the first week with your small chicks you should place marbles, small stones or something in the water tray so tiny chicks do not drown. They get sleepy quite quickly and could fall asleep right there at the water source, marbles or another small thing in the tray will eliminate this risk and it's easy to do.
Marbles and glass gems (craft supply) work well to make sure the waterer is chick safe.


A typical chick waterer and feeder set. They come in many shapes and sizes, are quite inexpensive and very easy to use.

Should I add something to my chicks water? Some say yes and some say only if they seem to need a boost. I certainly don't think it can hurt to add some apple cider vinegar, just a tiny bit, to their first water. A drop of honey, pure maple syrup or sugar can be added to perk them up and some add a wee bit of garlic to give them a boost. Another option is the Save- a- Chick probiotics and electrolytes packet you may get when you purchase brand new chicks. It's not as natural as your own ACV and such but will probably do the job if the chicks need a boost. 


What about chick food? To start with you will want either a chick starter or a chick starter/grower. Both organic and non-organic types are usually available. This is a crumble type food that's easy for the chicks to eat. I choose non-medicated feed there is also a medicated version that some might choose to use. Many places only sell non-medicated, I believe the medicated feed may only be needed in specific circumstances. Chicks will be on starter for their first 6 weeks and then move on to grower until 16-18 weeks or starter/grower for their first 16 or so weeks. This might be regional, the combined starter/grower seems to be most used and most available here. One thing I do food-wise is make a mash for the chicks each morning. Just add some warm water to some chick crumble and mix it up to an oatmeal like consistency. My chicks and adult chickens too really love the mash. It can stretch your food bill too. They digest the mash a little better. This is also a great idea for chicks that don't feel well or those who are brand new and might have shipping stress. usually this food comes in a 25 or 50 pound bag, this bag is not too big chicks eat a lot! Later when your chicks are pullets and starting to lay eggs you can switch over to layer pellets or layer crumbles. All breeds are different but most will make the switch between 16-20 weeks. It doesn't have to be exact if they're close to laying age and it's time to buy a new bag of food go ahead and get layer pellets or crumble. If they've just started to lay and you still have half a bag of grower it's fine to finish it up. 

You now have a brooder, food and water receptacles, a heat source a bag of feed. just add chicks!

Chicks arrive! You might pick your chicks up at the post office or a feed store. or maybe mama hen has hatched them out. If you have a mama hen she'll do the work. Otherwise you need to play mother hen and make sure the brand new chicks are drinking, eating and staying warm.

Chick in the mail

Choosing chicks at a feed store

Chicks from feed store
If your chicks have come by mail or by way of a feed store they will need to be brought home to their brooder as soon as possible. If you live a long distance from the post office or feed store it's not a bad idea to bring along a temporary brooder. Box/bin a little water and a little food so they can be comfortable and have some water at least for the long ride home. If you're nearby their pick up point this isn't necessary
My kids closely monitored our new chicks in this temporary brooder for the hour plus ride home from the feed store. They had a little food and a little water.

Once the chicks are home it's time to introduce them to the brooder. One very important step that you don't want to miss is making sure they all have a drink. Take one chick at a time from the box or bin that they've ridden home in and dip each chick's beak just a little bit into the water. Also have a close look at each chick to see if any might need special attention. Once they've all been checked over, had a drink and checked out their food and their brooder they will probably settle under their heat source for a nap. Chicks need a very warm environment for their first week. With an electric hen you will set it so the chicks back is just a little lower than the heat plate and move it up as they grow. One general rule is that chicks need to be 95 degrees for the first week of their life and take it down by 5 degrees every week. With an electric hen you don't need to monitor the temps quite so closely but make sure the chicks look comfortable. if they're all huddling under the heat and piled up closely together they may be too cold. If they're all very spread out or avoiding the heat source the may be too hot. Your brooder should be in an area that doesn't have extremes of temperature. The chicks should look comfortable, snuggled up perhaps but not pig piling or keeping away from each other.

What's next? Well enjoy your chicks of course. They grow up very fast. Make sure they have clean water each day, raise up their water container onto a piece of wood or a brick of some sort after the first week or so this will help stop the shavings getting in there. You can raise up the food a little too if desired to shop shavings getting in there or help a little with spillage. Check the heat source often to see if it needs to be adjusted as chicks grow. If you decide to introduce treats such as grass, greens or mealworms make sure to give them chick sized grit as well. Chicks don't need grit if they're just eating their chicken food but once treats and scraps are introduced grit is important. there is a small size and a larger grit so make sure you get chick grit. Little trips outdoors will be appreciated as they grow. they can benefit from fresh air and sunshine as well as natural dirt and grit not to mention bits of grass and bugs! This will depend on your temperatures and the time of year. Watch them closely to see if they seem comfortable or chilled, if chilled bring them back to the brooder. You can build a little pen with fencing or use what you have, just make sure they're safe from predators. 

A couple of cage tops make a nice outdoor pen.

You can make a small pen with hardware cloth or fencing and some netting on top.

Soon the chicks will be chickens and living in their coop or barn. If that's not built yet better get right on it. 10 week old chicks in the house isn't as fun as 2 week old chicks in the house! Next time from chicks to chickens, into the coop and onward to egg laying!

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