Chick Care
Caring for day old poultry.
Be prepared 24-48 hours before receiving your poultry. Pick a dry, clean brooding area. Brooding area should be a round enclosure. This can be make from cardboard or you can purchase a product called “chick guard” or something similar, to prevent chicks from getting lost or piling in the corners. Fill the brooder will fresh bedding, not to deep. Place a thermometer in the brooder under the heat light to check the temperature. Warm the brooder to 32 degrees Celsius in advance of placing in the chicks. The area inside the round brooder guard should be approximately 0.25 m2 for 10 chicks [400 sq inches or 20” x20”] upon arrival. This cardboard area can be put inside a larger area. Begin to increase the pen size after chicks are 1 week old and guard can be removed completely when chicks are 2 weeks old. There should be enough feeders and waterers for all the chicks. You will need 1 litre of water for 25 chicks or 2 cm per bird if using a trough waterer. Upon arrival of chicks make sure all feeders and waterers are full. Always feed on a free choice basis and water must be available at all times.If using a bowl or anything that your chicks can walk through you will need to put rocks or marble in the water bowl so the chicks can't get all wet, if they get all wet they will get chilled and not eat and DIE!! Water tends to make a film and get slimy so make sure water containers are kept clean and water changed each day. This is very important for baby birds. We feed our day olds on a pizza pan, or something like that, so the feed is easy to find as some chicks don't find the food in the feeder. For the first week and then add a feeder in the center of the pan with food still on the pan as well for the next week.
Daily check list:
Check temperature, feed and water, lighting, bedding [make sure its dry ], health status and watch for any change in behavior.
Brooder Temperature: This can be maintained by raising or lowering the lamp.
Age day old to 7 days = 34-35 degrees C - sorry your kitchen (house) is not warm enough without extra heat, a heat lamp or heat pad, your chicks will get chilled won't eat and Die!!!
Age 8 days to 14 days = 30 degrees C
Age 15 days to 21 days =28 degrees C
Age 22 days to 28 days =26 degrees C
Age 29 days to 35 days =24 degrees C
Brooder lamp 250 watt ( we prefer clear bulb)enough for 50 chicks this should be located approx. 50 cm above the chicks
Be prepared 24-48 hours before receiving your poultry. Pick a dry, clean brooding area. Brooding area should be a round enclosure. This can be make from cardboard or you can purchase a product called “chick guard” or something similar, to prevent chicks from getting lost or piling in the corners. Fill the brooder will fresh bedding, not to deep. Place a thermometer in the brooder under the heat light to check the temperature. Warm the brooder to 32 degrees Celsius in advance of placing in the chicks. The area inside the round brooder guard should be approximately 0.25 m2 for 10 chicks [400 sq inches or 20” x20”] upon arrival. This cardboard area can be put inside a larger area. Begin to increase the pen size after chicks are 1 week old and guard can be removed completely when chicks are 2 weeks old. There should be enough feeders and waterers for all the chicks. You will need 1 litre of water for 25 chicks or 2 cm per bird if using a trough waterer. Upon arrival of chicks make sure all feeders and waterers are full. Always feed on a free choice basis and water must be available at all times.If using a bowl or anything that your chicks can walk through you will need to put rocks or marble in the water bowl so the chicks can't get all wet, if they get all wet they will get chilled and not eat and DIE!! Water tends to make a film and get slimy so make sure water containers are kept clean and water changed each day. This is very important for baby birds. We feed our day olds on a pizza pan, or something like that, so the feed is easy to find as some chicks don't find the food in the feeder. For the first week and then add a feeder in the center of the pan with food still on the pan as well for the next week.
Daily check list:
Check temperature, feed and water, lighting, bedding [make sure its dry ], health status and watch for any change in behavior.
Brooder Temperature: This can be maintained by raising or lowering the lamp.
Age day old to 7 days = 34-35 degrees C - sorry your kitchen (house) is not warm enough without extra heat, a heat lamp or heat pad, your chicks will get chilled won't eat and Die!!!
Age 8 days to 14 days = 30 degrees C
Age 15 days to 21 days =28 degrees C
Age 22 days to 28 days =26 degrees C
Age 29 days to 35 days =24 degrees C
Brooder lamp 250 watt ( we prefer clear bulb)enough for 50 chicks this should be located approx. 50 cm above the chicks
Brooder setup
Feeding Chicks:
Day olds need to be fed a good quality starter ration. medicated chick starter helps to prevent coccidia.[ a bloody diarrhea that can kill chicks]. It will take approximately a 25kg bag of feed to grow 5 chicks from day old to 20 weeks for the average size chicken. Starter ration must be fed from day old to 3-6 weeks,(check bag for age) then mix starter with a grower ration for a few days until you have the chicks switched to grower. Once the pullets start to lay then switch to a 17-20% layer ration. DO NOT switch to a lay ration too soon as it can cause problems for the chickens.The average calcium content of Layer Feed ranges from 3.25% to 4.8% The hens need this amount of calcium to produce eggs but for any bird that is not laying, these levels can be too high, and might actually cause harm to some birds. Chick starter / grower is only 0.5%-1.5% calcium.
Hypercalcaemia, The term used for too much calcium can also result in calcification of the soft tissues and organs (including the liver and heart), pancreatitis, egg binding, dry skin, appetite loss, lethargy, confusion, depression, slowed growth in pullets and cockerels, dehydration, diarrhea or constipation, and even death. So this is why it is very important not to feed any lay feed until the pullets actually start to lay.
If you have laying birds and pullets not yet at point of lay all together, you can solve the problem by feeding all you birds a good quality 15%-16% grower and having a tub or pail with oyster shell in it FREE CHOICE and the birds will supplement their calcium as they need it.
Now one of the most important nutrition for your chicks is clean fresh water, now we all have well water and we know bacterias live in our well water, so we recommend boiling their water. For as long as 6-8 weeks or we use Chlorine Dioxide to help kill all the bacteria's in the well water.
We recommend giving day old chicks to 2 week old chicks extra vitamin’s and probiotics.
We also use easy digestible protein for the first 2-3 weeks. We add fish meal and milk replacer. As in most chick starers the protein is soya meal which is harder for young chicks to digest. We have found that easy digestible protein makes your chicks grow better and helps the weaker chicks. Its also helps eliminate pasty butt.
Products we use and recommend are:
Vitamins: CHICK'N SWELL - CHICK'N Vitamins or Durvet - Vitamins & Electrolytes- This is added to your water fresh daily.
CHICK'N SWELL- have lots of different ones like CHICK'N Prebiotic plus - ect...
Minerials: Celtic Salt. Celtic salt has 82 minerals and trace minerals which the body needs and is hard to find in a supplement.
Probiotics [for gut health]: Big Ole Bird, Primalac - This is added to your water fresh daily
Prebiotics [feeds the probiotics]: Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar with The ‘Mother’. This is added to your water fresh daily.
Give all at the same time in fresh water daily.
Fish Meal and Milk Replacer- top dressed on their feed daily for the first 2-3 weeks.
Skim Milk Powder would also work and the lactose in the milk works as a prebiotic for feeding the probiotics.
We use Chlorine Dioxide to help kill all the bacteria's in the well water. or you can use Hydrogen Peroxide.
Primalac ( probiotic for birds) - on Canadian Racing Pigeon Union
Durvet Vitamins & Electrolytes - you can get on Amazon.ca
AllOne Wellness Chlorine Dioxide- you can get on Amazon.ca
CHICK'N SWELL - you can get on Amazon.ca or local feed mill
Minerals- Celtic Salt- you can get it on Amazon.ca or you natural health store should have it.
We are not affiliated with any of these companies. This is what we use at DC Heritage Poultry to give the newly hatched chicks a boost in life.
Day old chicks will be vaccinated with a vectored vaccine called Innovac- ILT by Merck. It is for Marek's and ILT. It is a new vaccine which doesn’t interfere with maternal antibodies and does not transmit or shed ILT which gives better coverage.
Day olds need to be fed a good quality starter ration. medicated chick starter helps to prevent coccidia.[ a bloody diarrhea that can kill chicks]. It will take approximately a 25kg bag of feed to grow 5 chicks from day old to 20 weeks for the average size chicken. Starter ration must be fed from day old to 3-6 weeks,(check bag for age) then mix starter with a grower ration for a few days until you have the chicks switched to grower. Once the pullets start to lay then switch to a 17-20% layer ration. DO NOT switch to a lay ration too soon as it can cause problems for the chickens.The average calcium content of Layer Feed ranges from 3.25% to 4.8% The hens need this amount of calcium to produce eggs but for any bird that is not laying, these levels can be too high, and might actually cause harm to some birds. Chick starter / grower is only 0.5%-1.5% calcium.
Hypercalcaemia, The term used for too much calcium can also result in calcification of the soft tissues and organs (including the liver and heart), pancreatitis, egg binding, dry skin, appetite loss, lethargy, confusion, depression, slowed growth in pullets and cockerels, dehydration, diarrhea or constipation, and even death. So this is why it is very important not to feed any lay feed until the pullets actually start to lay.
If you have laying birds and pullets not yet at point of lay all together, you can solve the problem by feeding all you birds a good quality 15%-16% grower and having a tub or pail with oyster shell in it FREE CHOICE and the birds will supplement their calcium as they need it.
Now one of the most important nutrition for your chicks is clean fresh water, now we all have well water and we know bacterias live in our well water, so we recommend boiling their water. For as long as 6-8 weeks or we use Chlorine Dioxide to help kill all the bacteria's in the well water.
We recommend giving day old chicks to 2 week old chicks extra vitamin’s and probiotics.
We also use easy digestible protein for the first 2-3 weeks. We add fish meal and milk replacer. As in most chick starers the protein is soya meal which is harder for young chicks to digest. We have found that easy digestible protein makes your chicks grow better and helps the weaker chicks. Its also helps eliminate pasty butt.
Products we use and recommend are:
Vitamins: CHICK'N SWELL - CHICK'N Vitamins or Durvet - Vitamins & Electrolytes- This is added to your water fresh daily.
CHICK'N SWELL- have lots of different ones like CHICK'N Prebiotic plus - ect...
Minerials: Celtic Salt. Celtic salt has 82 minerals and trace minerals which the body needs and is hard to find in a supplement.
Probiotics [for gut health]: Big Ole Bird, Primalac - This is added to your water fresh daily
Prebiotics [feeds the probiotics]: Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar with The ‘Mother’. This is added to your water fresh daily.
Give all at the same time in fresh water daily.
Fish Meal and Milk Replacer- top dressed on their feed daily for the first 2-3 weeks.
Skim Milk Powder would also work and the lactose in the milk works as a prebiotic for feeding the probiotics.
We use Chlorine Dioxide to help kill all the bacteria's in the well water. or you can use Hydrogen Peroxide.
Primalac ( probiotic for birds) - on Canadian Racing Pigeon Union
Durvet Vitamins & Electrolytes - you can get on Amazon.ca
AllOne Wellness Chlorine Dioxide- you can get on Amazon.ca
CHICK'N SWELL - you can get on Amazon.ca or local feed mill
Minerals- Celtic Salt- you can get it on Amazon.ca or you natural health store should have it.
We are not affiliated with any of these companies. This is what we use at DC Heritage Poultry to give the newly hatched chicks a boost in life.
Day old chicks will be vaccinated with a vectored vaccine called Innovac- ILT by Merck. It is for Marek's and ILT. It is a new vaccine which doesn’t interfere with maternal antibodies and does not transmit or shed ILT which gives better coverage.
While preserving our breeds we use the best breeding stock available to us. We carefully choose our stock to ensure genetic diversity. We show some of our birds but cannot guarantee that all chicks will be show quality.