Raising New Baby Chicks!

Twenty-five on these on the farm!

It's always exciting to get new babies here on the farm!  Here is a picture of the brooder all set up and waiting for the chicks.  We used a 3 foot kiddie pool placed on a large square of cardboard for added warmth, wrapped it all around with 18" high brown construction paper.  My husband had some paint sticks around and used them to help hold up the paper.  We lined the pool with newspaper, attached the heat lamp to a wooden ladder-back chair, and placed the feeder, waterer, and thermometer inside.  The red heat lamp makes it a bit difficult for the camera to take a great picture.

The brooder ready to go!

Today twenty-five brand new baby chicks came home to live on the homestead.  We purchased Red Star pullets.  According to Murray McMurray Hatchery, these are the very best extra large dark brown egg layers they offer.  We will see how they do for us.  

Here they are, settling in their new home.  Oh my goodness, they are so stinkin' cute!

Little fuzzy balls of cuteness!

According to the hatchery's instructions, we added 3 tablespoons of sugar to their
quart jar of water, and 1/4 teaspoon of Quik Chik which contains vitamins and electrolytes to help them overcome shipping stress and vitamin shortage.  We also put marbles in the saucer of their drinking container to prevent them from drowning themselves.  We'll need to leave those in only for the first few days.  As I introduced each chick to the brooder, I carefully dipped her beak into the water so they each would know where, and what, it was.  And, almost without exception, they continued to go back for more.  There were a couple that I needed to show an extra time or two, but at last, they all got it!  

We had purchased medicated chick starter feed by accident, so the guys had to run back out to purchase non-medicated feed as we had them vaccinated for Coccidiosis and  Marek's Disease at the hatchery, and the medicated food would have nullified the Coccidoisis vaccine.  After thinking I was totally on top of things, naturally, something had to go awry.  

While the guys were gone, I noticed one of the babies was quite listless and off by herself.  I showed her the water again, and her feet felt cold, so I held her and dripped tiny bits of water onto her beak with my finger until she warmed up.  When the food came, I put her back with the others, and now, about an hour or so later, she seems to be doing much better.

I then sprinkled some of their feed onto the newspaper that we lined the brooder with and they immediately began pecking and eating.  It's amazing to me how something so very tiny and new already knows what to do to survive.  I don't understand how those who don't believe in God explain away the amazing miracles of nature.  

Red Star Pullet - oh so sweet!

The last thing I did was to mix up the Gro-Gel Plus that we also purchased with the chicks and placed it on the floor in the brooder.  This is a bright green gel-like mixture that contains "Proteins and Amino Acids (The building blocks of most body tissues), Carbohydrates and Fats (Energy), Vitamins (Gets the digestive and immune system started), and Probiotic Bacteria (Gets the gut bacterial population going)".   

I've checked and double checked the thermometer in the brooder to be certain the temperature is remaining right around 95 degrees F.  Once they begin eating their food from the feeder as opposed to off the floor, maybe tomorrow, I will put wood shavings in to make cleaning up just a bit easier.  Wood shavings, rice hulls, or ground cobs make good litter. Never use cedar chips, sawdust (It is too small and the birds may eat it instead of their food), or treated wood chips. Sand, straw, or dirt are also okay, but are not as good as the others.  

Well, that's it for now, folks.  They're cheeping away in there, got to go check up on them one more time.  I just love watching them, they are so adorable!

Stay tuned, I'll be posting more pics as they grow.

Carpe Diem! Lil and Bill