Juvenile or Grow-Out Care and Housing
I’ve shared quite a few of my best tips and tricks for setting up a chick brooder, but what about the next step? When they are too little to just toss into the big girl coop, but too big stinky to stay in the house.
At this point, I put them in the big girl coop, with accomodations.
First, I take off their little chickie id bands, which are all the same color to tell the breeds of each hatch apart — that is I may have 20 Swedish Flower Hen chicks all wearing blue which I now remove. I replace these with colored zip ties, a different color for each juvenile, as I need to start keeping individual records
Each juvenile gets his or her photo taken and a unique leg-band or combo thereof and gets entered into my record-keeping system. Then they are ready for the big move.
I set up a big wire dog kennel in the coop portion of the pen that holds the adult versions of their breed. I set it on it’s side so that the “side” door is now on top. This leaves the large squares on the “bottom” of the kennel open to the side. The juveniles can go in and out, but the big girls cannot.
Then I add a heat plate. This one is the Producer’s Pride heat plate that Tractor Supply sells, but any heat plate will work. I just use what I have, but if you are purchasing for this purpose, make sure you get the heat plate with a cone so they don’t poop all over it. You will need to go physically put the birds under the heat for the first 5-7 nights, by the way.
Heat plates usually come with legs, but all mine broke off, so I am suspending it with bungie cords. Underneath the plate I have the bottom half of a kitty carrier filled with fluff aka pine shavings. You can use all sorts of things here. If you are purchasing, I like the Triangle Beds, as the high back wall keeps the drafts off.
In the corner, you can see the tube feeder that holds their feed: half medicated chick starter at this age, and half grower feed. It is positioned such that the big girls can’t get in there and gooble it all up. If you don’t have a tube feeder (we made ours) these hanging rabbit feeders work quite well.
Depending on the season, I move the juveniles into this outside set-up and they stay in until a) they no longer fit through the holes in the cage or b) they no longer sleep near the heat. During the winter, I will leave the brooder in place longer and set it on a thermocube so that if there is a sudden deep chill, the heat will come back on.
You’ve ordered your chicks and set your pick-up appointment. Now what?
Now is a great time to do a little reading so that you are well-equipped to take excellent care of your little ones.
As chick season heats up, I want to talk to you about Chick Flippers. These are people who place large orders from commercial hatcheries, have the chicks shipped in, and then list them for sale at a HUGE mark-up on Craigslist etc. They don’t disclose . . .
Please oh please don't use a feather duster. Yes, they will love it, but when you find the one that got tangled in it and hung herself, you will feel awful.
Which Natural Farm Feed Product Should I Buy For My Chickens? Layer? Premium Layer? Broiler? Premium Broiler?
Well that depends on many things, chiefly the weather and what does your outside set-up entail.
The rule of thumb is that they need to be ten weeks old if the over-night low is going to be around 30.
That said, I put them out at four weeks at about any time of year. What? Yes. Four weeks, with supplemental heat.
One of my customers — a first-time chicken dad — glibly remarked, “I think I’ll get into breeding, how hard can it be?” One of my more diplomatic friends responded, “You would be surprised.”
No, this is not a dating guide. If you are looking for your soulmate, volunteer with an organization that aligns with your values and priorities. All those other volunteers are your pre-filtered field of candidates. Now, back to chicks . . .
Are you just planning on just one round of chicks? Let me save you the trouble of gathering up all the necessary supplies.
Great question. Chick prices vary according to availability, quality, and investment.
I have been contacted dozens of times in the last few weeks by people wanting pullets and laying hens, and with the price of eggs, I understand. The trick is, that here at Flower Feather Farm, available pullets are far and few between.
I’ve shared quite a few of my best tips and tricks for setting up a chick brooder, but what about the next step? When they are too little to just toss into the big girl coop, but too big stinky to stay in the house.
At this point, I put them in the big girl coop, with accomodations.
I house birds of different ages together regularly. Here is how I introduce them.
Stella Stargazer: before and after Selenium treatment for wry neck.
I kept hoping the warm weather would get here before avian bird flu did, but alas, both cool wet weather and bird flu are headed our way.
Medicated Chick Starter and Fermented Feed.
Girl Chick? Boy Chick? How is one to know?
Sexing chicks. Alas, not as easy as we would wish.