Raising Chicks

Backyard poultry is becoming quite popular. Chickens are fun to watch, easy to care for and as a bonus they provide you with breakfast! To start your chicks out right you will need the following supplies:

  • Brooder
  • Bedding
  • Feeder or bowl
  • Waterer
  • Heat lamp and bulb
  • Thermometer
  • Proper starter feed
  • Vitamins and electrolytes
  • Chick Grit

BROODER: 

Set the brooder up before you bring your chicks home and warm it using the heat lamp: 90° - 95° for the first week, lowering the temperature 5° a week until it reaches 70°. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature, do not guess. A red 250 watt heat bulb is good choice for the heat lamp. Place the heat lamp 18” from the floor and to one end of the brooder so chicks can get away from it if they are too warm. The heat lamp has a clamp so it is easily repositioned. If the chicks are all piled together directly under it – they are too cold; If they are all scattered away from it and spread out – they are too hot. Reposition the lamp until they are comfortable. 

A brooder can be anything from a large plastic tote to a kiddie swimming pool. Have a cover planned for when the chicks start to grow feathers because they will fly out! Your brooder should be big enough so that chicks 4 weeks and under should have at least ½ square foot per chick in space. 

Bedding will provide warmth, help keep the chicks dry and absorb their manure. Cover the floor at least 1” deep with bedding. Good choices of bedding are: Paper towels, Carefresh, peat moss or sand. Newspapers are not a good choice for bedding because they become slippery when wet. Shavings should not be used for very young chicks but are fine once they are established. TIP: Put a layer of newspaper under the litter so that when you need to clean the brooder all you have to do is roll up the newspapers and toss.

FEED: 

A chick feeder with holes is good to prevent food waste. Chicks should always have food and water available. Choose a medicated or unmedicated chick starter, we also have organic unmedicated options available. Chick feed comes in 3 textures: mash(powder), crumbles and pellets. Very young chicks should be given either mash or crumbles, you can switch to pellets when they are older.

0-8 weeks - Essex Co-Op carries these starter feeds: 

Unmedicated: 

  • Blue Seal Multiflock Starter/Grower Crumbles or Pellets Raising Chicks 
  • Poulin Starter Crumbles
  • Nutrena Natures Smart Organic Starter/Grower Crumbles
  • Nutrena Starter Grower Crumbles
  • Poulin Organic Chick Starter Mash 

Medicated:

  • Blue Seal Chick Starter Crumbles or Mash
  • Nutrena Country Feed Chick Starter/Grower Medicated Crumbles

8 weeks to first egg - Essex Co-Op carries these grower feeds

  • Blue Seal Grow and Show Crumbles or Pellets 

Adult layers - Essex Co-Op carries these layer feeds

  • Blue Seal Extra Egg Layer Crumbles or Pellets
  • Poulin Layer Crumbles or Pellets
  • Nutrena Layer Pellets
  • Poulin Organic Layer Pellets
  • Poulin Egg Plus Crumblets

WATERER:

Check the waterer often because the bedding and food will get in it and absorb all the water. If the waterer is too deep put some small rocks in it to prevent drowning. Add vitamins and electrolytes to the water to give them a healthy start. As soon as you place your chicks in the brooder take each one and dip its beak into the water. They’ll be thirsty from their trip home and will need to be shown where the water is. 

GRIT:

Mix Chick Grit into their feed. Chicks need grit to help them digest their feed. Grit is tiny rocks that they store in their gizzard. The grit acts like teeth to grind up the food so they can digest it. When they are older you can continue to mix the grit into their food or you can leave a bowl of it out they will take what they need.

THINGS TO WATCH FOR:

Piling: If your chicks are cold they will pile on top of each other, this can cause injury to the chicks on the bottom of the pile. This means they need a larger brooder or that they are cold. 

Picking: Pecking at each other a bit is normal, they are just exploring their environment. If they do it too much it could be cause by one of the following issues: the chicks are too crowded, their lights are on 24 hours a day, inadequate ventilation, not enough feeders available or a lack of protein in their diet. 

Panting: They are too hot, make sure they have plenty of water and adjust the height of the heat lamp. 

Manure Balls: Manure sticks to the chicks’ feet and can cause pecking of the feet which can cripple them. To clean, soak their feet in warm water until the manure softens enough to wipe off. If feet bleed after cleaning apply an antibiotic cream such as Neosporin. 

Pasting: If their dropping stick to their feathers and harden it can cause a backup of manure and eventually death. To clean, run warm water on the area to loosen manure and pick manure off gently. If manure is caked on very thick this could be a repetitive process. Be careful, their skin is very delicate. Once clean, dab with a paper towel and cover with Vaseline to protect it. Pasting is caused by lack of water or the bedding isn’t clean enough. 

Signs of disease: Loss of a single chick, although heartbreaking, is normal. If you practice good husbandry they should all be fine. Signs of disease include weakness, drooping wings, increased thirst, decreased hunger, bloody stools, heads facing down, eyes swelling. 

MOVING OUTSIDE TO THE COOP:

Once the weather gets warmer, the nights aren’t so cold and your chicks are fully feathered you can move them outside to their coop. They will be ready for the move between 8-16 weeks.

AS THEY GROW: 

After about 4 weeks they will need larger grit. Essex Co-Op sells Chicken Grower Grit which they will use all their adult lives.

Install roosts in the brooder away from the light. Allow 4” of roost per bird with roost poles 6” apart.

Allow them some supervised time outside on warm, sunny days. 

Chicken Vocabulary 

Bantam – miniature chicken, about ¼ to ½ the size of a regular sized chicken

Broiler – a young, tender meat chicken; also called a fryer

Brooder – a heated enclosure used to imitate the warmth and protection of a mother hen

Cloaca – chamber just inside the vent where the digestive, reproductie and excretory tracts come together

Coccidiosis – a parasitic protozoal infestation, usually occurring in damp, unclean housing conditions

Cock – male chicken; a rooster

Cockerel – male chicken under under 1 year old

Comb – fleshy, usually red, crown on top of a chicken’s head

Crop – pouch at the base of a bird’s neck that buldges after the bird has eaten

Dusting – the act of thrashing around in the dirt to clean their feathers and discourage parasites

Gizzard – organ that contains grit for griding up the grain and plant fiber a chicken eats

Grit – sand and small pebbles eaten by a chicken and used by the gizzard to grind up grain and plant fiber Hen – a mature female chicken

Incubation period – time it takes for an egg to hatch; normally about 21 days Molt – the annual shedding and renewing of a bird’s feathers

Nest – a secluded place where a hen feels she may safely lay her eggs; also, the act of brooding

Nest egg – wooden or plastic egg placed in a nest to encourage hens to lay there Oviduct – the tube inside a hen through which an egg travels when it is ready to be laid

Pasting – loose droppings sticking to vent area, also known as “pasting up” or “sticky bottoms”

Pullet – female chicken under 1 year old Ration – combination of all feed consumed in a day

Roost – place where chickens spend the night; the act of resting on a roost; also called “perch”

Rooster – a male chicken; also called a “cock”

Sex Feather – a hackle, saddle or tail feather that is rounded in a hen but usually pointed in a rooster

Spurs – sharp pointed protusions on a rooster’s shanks

Stag – a cockerel on the brink of sexual maturity

Started pullets – young female chickens that are nearly old enough to lay Straight run – newly hatched chicks that have not been sexed; also called “unsexed” or “as hatched”

Vent – the outside opening of the cloaca, through which a chicken omits eggs and droppings from separate channels

Wattles – the two red or purplish flaps of flesh that dangle under a chicken’s chin


FAQ’s

How long do chickens live?

Chickens in small backyard flocks live 6-8 years. Commercial layers are kept for 2-3 years. 

How old are chickens when they begin to lay eggs?

Under best conditions; good nutrition, ideal day length, adequate housing and good management practices, most layers should begin egg production at about 20-22 weeks old.

Can eggs be produced without a rooster?

Yes, a hen does not need a rooster to produce eggs; they will be unfertile though.

Are there nutritional differences between white and brown shelled eggs?

No, eggs of different colors do not have different nutrition.

Why do hens stop laying eggs?

Healthy hens stop laying for 2 reasons: they are entering a molt or there is not adequate light.